New: Artnap New Tab for Chrome. A museum painting in every new tab. Add to Chrome

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

238 works

Featured

Filters

Color

Shape

Century

Clear all

Loose painted seascape of breaking waves on a sandy beach beneath a dark, cloudy sky.

Sandy Beach with Breakers

Winslow Homer, 1869

Red chalk drawing of a standing draped figure with turned head and flowing robes, study for an Annunciation angel.

Drapery Study for the Angel of the Annunciation

Battista Franco Veneziano, 1550

Pen and brown ink sketch of a group of angels with wings gathered on a cloud bank, heads turned in various directions.

Group of Angels on a Cloud Bank

Angelo Michele Colonna, 1650

Pen and watercolor design drawing of an ornate multi-armed lighting fixture with blue bands and floral details, dated 1810.

Design for a Lighting Fixture

Frederick Crace, 1810

Floral garland design of orange and yellow roses, white blossoms and green leaves on a squared grid, with printed credits.

Design for Berlin Wool Work

Nathaniel Currier, 1850

Red chalk study on squared grid showing nude figures, standing children with poles, and a seated woman, framed horizontally.

The Common Law, Study for Left Panel of "The Reign of Law," Frieze for Appellate Court, New York

Kenyon Cox, 1890

Gridded pattern sheet with a horizontal spray of pink, white and red roses and green leaves, numbered 908.

Design for Berlin Wool Work

Carl F. W. Wicht, 1850

Small landscape study: rocky outcrop with green shrubs on left, blue receding mountains and hazy sky on right.

Study of landscape, Drachenfels, Germany

William Stanley Haseltine, 1850

Pencil sketch of two hounds playing within a decorative framed border, with wavy bands above and below.

Two Hounds at Play

William Hunt Diederich, 1920

Watercolor design of a wood-grained door with an overdoor panel showing a fantastic bird in pink, green and yellow.

Design for Door and Overdoor with Fantastic Bird, probably for the Yellow Room, Royal Pavilion, Brighton

Frederick Crace, 1800

Pencil drawing of an urn-shaped vase with sinuous bronze mounts curling around its body and a leafy finial above.

Design for a Bronze Mounted Vase

Emile Gallé, 1880

Watercolor of a rocky shoreline with trees on a bank and a small sailboat on calm water under a cloudy sky.

Landscape of Nantucket Island

Arnold William Brunner, 1880

Watercolor design of a colonnade with four bays showing a cloudy sky above red railings, with decorative gold corner brackets

Wall for Decoration, perhaps for corridor, Royal Pavilion, Brighton

Frederick Crace, 1800

Project: A pulpit shown in profile

Carlo Fontana, 1700

Charcoal and white chalk study of a robed figure with one arm raised, head tilted upward, on tan paper.

Study for leader of the procession, “Vintage Festival,” Mendelssohn Glee Club, New York, NY

Robert Frederick Blum, 1890

Watercolor design of a wall with paneled doors, columns, balcony railings and a sky backdrop.

Wall Decoration and Door with Columns, Royal Pavilion, Brighton

Frederick Crace, 1800

Brown ink and wash drawing of a horizontal decorative frieze with oval medallions, scrolling foliage, and grotesque masks.

Design for a Frieze

Carlo Marchionni, 1770

Pen and wash design for a neoclassical wall panel with urns, garlands, scrolls, and a central flower vase.

Design for a Wall Panel

Pierre Ranson, 1770

Pen and wash drawing of a decorative frieze with putti, oval shields, a grotesque mask, and small landscape scenes.

Design for the Decoration of a Frieze

Filippo Marchionni, 1770

Charcoal and chalk sketch of a young girl in a ruffled dress holding a drinking glass, hair blowing in the wind.

Girl Holding a Drinking Glass

Winslow Homer, 1860

Brown ink and wash drawing of an ornate rococo architrave with garlands, scrolls, cherub heads and a central lion mask.

Design for an Architrave

Carlo Marchionni, 1770

Pen and red chalk drawing of a domed columned catafalque with steps, a seated figure at an easel inside the arch.

Catafalque of the Bolognese Artist Elisabetta Sirani

Matteo Borboni, 1660

Colored architectural drawing of a symmetrical monument with winged Liberty figure atop a central tower, flanked by seated al

Design for a Monument Commemorating Systematization of Weights and Measures in France

Jean-Jacques Lequeu, 1800

Pen and wash drawing of architectural ornaments with an urn, griffin relief, and acanthus scrolls, with handwritten calculati

Architectural Studies and Accounting

Carlo Marchionni, 1770

Watercolor elevation of a large mansion with steep slate roofs, dormers, arched windows and a balcony, set on a lawn.

Elevation of Mansion

Whitney Warren Jr, 1900

Ink and wash design study with an octagonal central panel of classical figures and a cupid, flanked by two round roundels.

Peace, Vaulted Panel, Sala d' Onore and the Appartmento Napoleonico, Palazzo Quirinale, Rome

Felice Giani, 1810

Pale floral border design of hydrangea clusters and leaves on a brown ground, an unfinished textile design from 1800.

Design for an Embroidered or Woven Horizontal Border of the "Fabrique de St. Ruf," Unfinished

Fabrique de Saint Ruf, Lyon, France, 1800

Architectural elevation drawing of a symmetrical library facade with columns, tall windows and a central entrance on tan pape

Study for the Fifth Avenue Elevation of the New York Public Library

Whitney Warren Jr, 1890

Pen and gray wash design for a vaulted ceiling panel with a central figural scene and two small putti medallions.

Abundance, Vaulted Panel, Sala d'onore, Appartmento Napoleonico, Palazzo Quirinale, Rome

Felice Giani, 1810

Pen and ink design for a vertical panel with drapery, flower garlands, a central cherub face and birds at the base.

Design for a panel

Gilles Paul Cauvet, 1780

Brown ink and wash drawing of a frieze with mounted warriors, rearing horses, shields and spears in combat.

Battle Scene

Giulio Romano, 1540

Brown ink design sheet with cherubs, a lion, an oval shield, caryatids and a SEMPER banner, for stained glass.

Design for Stained Glass in the Laurentian Library, Florence, Italy

Wouter Crabeth I, 1580

Horizontal border design with repeated festoons, tulip blooms and scrolling foliage in pale tones on a rust-brown ground.

Design no. 12 for an Embroidered or Woven Horizontal Border of the "Fabrique de St. Ruf"

Fabrique de Saint Ruf, Lyon, France, 1800

Pen and brown ink studies of ornate candlesticks and candelabra with foliage and putti, with handwritten notes at top.

Candlesticks, Probably for the Palazzo Altieri, Rome

Giuseppe Barberi, 1780

Pencil sketch of the Tiber river with a domed church, villas, and trees along the banks, annotated with place names.

View of the Castel Sant'Angelo, Claude's Villa, and St. Peter's, Rome, Italy, Part One

Frederic Edwin Church, 1860

Watercolor design of a radiant monstrance with angels, clouds, and two kneeling angels supporting a draped cloth below.

Project for a Ostensory

Luigi Righetti, 1800

Pencil architectural drawing of a pediment with a circular medallion, Corinthian columns, and two small sketched cherubs belo

Design of a Sepulchral Monument for a Cloister

Carlo Marchionni, 1740

Two Sailing Ships

Frederic Edwin Church, 1840

Muted study of a painted ceiling section with framed panels, scrollwork cartouches, and a reclining figure.

Study for Section of Ceiling Ornament

Pierre Victor Galland, 1900

Pen and ink design of a vertical panel with an oval medallion, urn, garlands, crossed arrows and scrolling foliage.

Project for the decoration of a vertical panel

Gilles Paul Cauvet, 1780

Narrow oil sketch of a pale iceberg floating on dark sea water beneath a muted brown sky.

Floating Icebergs, Canada

Frederic Edwin Church, 1850

Pen and grey wash drawing of a rococo ornamental frieze with scrollwork, a central mask, and foliate motifs.

Design for a Ceiling Decoration

Giuseppe Maria Rolli, 1720

Pen and grey wash design drawing of an ornate censer with a domed lid, garland swags and chains.

Design for a Thurible

Filippo Marchionni, 1730

Oil sketch of cumulus clouds lit in warm tones above a reddish ground and a distant blue hill at dusk.

Clouds over Mt. Desert Island, Maine

Frederic Edwin Church, 1850

Ink and wash design with a seated allegorical woman, a putto and columns in a central panel, flanked by two round medallions

Vaulted Panel Design, Allegory of Justice, Palazzo Quirinale, Rome, Italy

Felice Giani, 1810

Horizontal strip of grey and black wash showing a lake shoreline, dark water and a distant tree line under pale sky.

Fragment of "Trout Fishing, Lake St. John, Quebec"

Winslow Homer, 1890

Pen and brown ink drawing of a frieze with scrolling foliage, a skull, an oval cartouche, and a small creature with annotatio

Design for a Frieze: "Time"

Giuseppe Barberi, 1800

Watercolor design of floral embroidery sprigs and garlands framed in a waistcoat outline, with handwritten inscription at top

Design for the Embroidered Decoration of a Man's Waistcoatr, Design 1876 of the "Fabrique de St. Ruf"

Fabrique de Saint Ruf, Lyon, France, 1780

Watercolor design for embroidery showing shrubs, pink flowers and grass within a violet waistcoat outline.

Design for Embroidered Waistcoat

Mademoiselle Favel, 1780

Brown ink and wash drawing of a tall obelisk on a pedestal with three standing figures and reclining figures around a mask me

Monument

Giuseppe Barberi, 1770

Vertical border design on rust-brown ground with pale repeating vine, bell-shaped flowers and curling leaves.

Design for a Woven or Embroidered Vertical Border of the "Fabrique de St. Ruf"

Fabrique de Saint Ruf, Lyon, France, 1800

Pen and brown wash design for a symmetrical ornamental panel with scrolling foliage, cherubs, a medallion scene, and a centra

Design for a Painted Panel

Jean Guillaume Moitte, 1760

Vertical grey-wash design of a classical pilaster strip with scrolls, acanthus leaves, rosettes and grapes.

Design for the Decoration of a Pilaster Strip

C. C, 1810

Pencil outline of a mountain ridgeline with a tall central peak on grey paper, labeled Katahdin from Katahdin Lake.

Cut-out of Mt. Katahdin from Katahdin Lake, Maine

Frederic Edwin Church, 1880

Sepia drawing of four allegorical female statues in arched niches labeled Musica, Architettura, Pittura, Scoltura, with a sma

Four Statues in Niches: Music, Architecture, Painting, and Sculpture; Study of Bacchus and Mercury

Felice Giani, 1810

Watercolor and ink elevation of an altar design with painted marble panels, a central oval medallion, and classical pilasters

Project for an altar: intended to be executed in colored marbles

Mario Asprucci The Younger, 1750

Pencil sketch of the Baalbek temple ruins across a hazy landscape, with fallen stone blocks in the foreground and handwritten

Temples at Baalbek from the Roman Quarry, Lebanon, Part One

Frederic Edwin Church, 1890

Brown ink and wash drawing of a grotesque bearded head with curled hair on a foliate-decorated column.

Head of a walking stick

Giuseppe Barberi, 1800

Red chalk drawing of a seated armored woman with spear and shield in a rococo ornamental panel with garlands and urn.

Designs for Gobelins Tapestry, October (Les Mois Grotesques par Bandes)

Claude Audran III, 1700

Small oil sketch of a turquoise iceberg on dark sea under a brown sky with sunlight breaking through clouds.

Iceberg, Battle Harbour, Canada

Frederic Edwin Church, 1850

Pen and brown ink sketch of a row of classical columns, sphinxes, an obelisk and a domed pavilion on a terrace.

Design for a Table Centerpiece

Giuseppe Barberi, 1790

Pen and ink design for a frieze with a blank oval cartouche, seated woman, putto, garlands and scrollwork.

Design for Frieze Decoration, with Alternative Suggestions

Mauro Antonio Tesi

Oil sketch of a large iceberg with smaller ice masses on dark sea under a pink evening sky.

Iceberg Against the Evening Sky, Canada

Frederic Edwin Church, 1850

Pen and grey wash drawing of an ornate altar design with columns, sculpted figures, a relief panel and a winged angel statue.

Design for an Altar

Filippo Marchionni, 1800

Pen and brown wash drawing of a candelabrum on a column, supported by two winged sphinx figures on pedestals.

Design for Arabesque in Candelabra Form, Probably for the Red Room in the Palazzo Altieri, Rome

Giuseppe Barberi, 1780

Small painting of two pale icebergs rising above dark choppy sea under a warm tan sky.

Two Icebergs, Canada

Frederic Edwin Church, 1850

Pen and grey wash drawing of two architectural window cases with pediments, garlands, and a carved mask.

Two Window Cases

Filippo Marchionni, 1800

Pencil sketch of two schooners and small dories on calm water, with soft reflections on a tan sheet.

Two Schooners and Dories

Winslow Homer, 1880

Faint pencil sketch of low rolling hills receding under an empty sky on tan paper.

Clouds

Frederic Edwin Church, 1840

Pen and ink architectural drawing of an altar mensa with a central wreath, lion-head brackets, and flanking pilasters.

Design for an Altar Mensa

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1760

Tall ornamental panel with turquoise ground, white garlands, urns, figures and a central medallion in neoclassical style.

Panel of Arabesques for the Hôtel de Salm, Paris

Jean Guillaume Moitte, 1780

Loose painting of a white house with dark roof among palms and trees under a pink and orange sunset over hills.

A Country Estate, Jamaica

Frederic Edwin Church, 1860

Vertical watercolor pilaster design with scrolling foliage, floral garlands, and a female head in an oval medallion.

Painting Decoration of a Pilaster Strip

Giacomo Casa, 1850

Pen and wash architectural drawing of a tiered fountain in an arched niche with a papal coat of arms and two busts.

Design for a Fountain in the Garden of the Palazzo Quirinale, Rome, Italy

Ferdinando Fuga, 1740

Pen and ink drawing of an ornate catafalque elevation with paired columns, carved figures, and a winged trumpeter atop.

Elevation of a Catafalque for a General

Mauro Antonio Tesi

Sepia ink and wash elevation drawing of a symmetrical classical palace with a columned central portico and sculpted pediment.

Elevation of a Palace

Giuseppe Barberi, 1790

Horizontal watercolor study of draped figures in a procession near classical columns, with a kneeling woman in the foreground

Study for a Procession, “Vintage Festival,” Mendelssohn Glee Club, New York, NY

Robert Frederick Blum, 1890

Pencil sketch of a narrow alpine lake flanked by steep mountains with snowy peaks in the distance.

View of the Königssee, Bavaria (Germany), Part One

Frederic Edwin Church, 1860

Pen and ink elevation of a domed mausoleum flanked by two pyramids and a colonnade, drawn on pale paper.

Elevation of a Mausoleum

Giuseppe Barberi, 1800

Brown ink drawing of a tall decorative panel with a winged female figure, draped fabric, cornucopia and scrolled ornament.

Design for a Painted Panel

Étienne de Lavallée-Poussin, 1770

Loose painted sketch of autumn-toned rolling hills in reddish and ochre hues under a pale sky, with grass in the foreground.

The Catskill Mountains in Autumn, Hudson, New York

Frederic Edwin Church, 1880

Brown ink and wash design for a vertical decorative panel with a classical statue, scrolls, foliage and a temple facade.

Design for the Decoration of a Panel

Giuseppe Barberi, 1800

Pen and wash design drawing of a three-armed candelabrum with floral motifs, an urn with figures, and a plan view below.

Design for a Candelabrum

Jean-Louis Prieur the Younger, 1780

Etching of two goats perched among curling vines, leaves and berries, forming a vertical grotesque ornament border.

Plate, from the series Ornamenti o grottesche (Ornaments or Grotesques)

Stefano Della Bella, 1610

Engraved panoramic view of a riverside town with houses, steep hills, mountains, trees and small figures in the foreground.

Panoramic View of the City of Ems, Germany

Johann Hürlimann, 1830

Engraved frieze of sea nymphs, a piping satyr, putti and a sea dragon in fine line hatching.

Ornamental Frieze with Sea Nymphs

Michiel le Blon, 1630

Engraved decorative border of putti riding sea monsters and dolphins over rippling waves.

Decorative Panel: Sea Monsters

Flemish Theodor de Bry, 1540

Etched decorative frieze with two lions and a putto among acanthus scrolls, with a printed Paris publisher inscription below.

Frieze

Jean Le Pautre, 1660

Engraved plan and elevation of the Chigi Chapel with domed ceiling, arched altarpiece, sculptures and a scale bar.

Plan and Elevation for the Chigi Chapel at the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo

Woodblock print of a kabuki actor holding a long staff, wearing a black robe over a green and cream patterned costume.

Omezo Ichikawa in the role of Kajiwara Genta

Utagawa Toyokuni, 1810

Engraved horizontal frieze of putti holding laurel, with trophies of arms, spears, and an oval shield showing a battle scene.

Frieze: Trophies of Arms and Putti

Jean Le Pautre, 1670

Vertical strip showing two Japanese figures, a woman with ornate hair above and a man holding a folding fan below.

Two Actors

Kikugana Eizan, 1810

Etching of a road procession with a horse-drawn cart, walking figures, and a laden pack animal beside trees.

Figures on the March

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki, 1740

Woodblock print of a kabuki actor in a striped kimono drawing a sword, with a lattice screen behind him.

Fragment: Sawamura Sojuro drawing his sword

Utagawa Kuninao, 1820

Vertical decorative wall design with classical statues, fruit garland on blue, grotesques, putti and scrollwork panels.

Wall Deocration, Plate II from Raphael's Loggie di Rafaele nel Vaticano (Loggia in the Vatican)

Giovanni Ottaviani

Vertical wall decoration with classical figures, grotesque motifs, coffered panels and a blue column of fruit garlands.

Wall Decoration, Plate XIII from Le loggie di Rafaele nel Vaticano (Raphael's Loggia in the Vatican)

Giovanni Volpato, 1770