With its invention in China in the 2nd century, paper has served as the support for an extraordinarily diverse body of work. When paper production was firmly established in Europe in the 15th century, the material was used widely for manuscripts and prints. During this time artists like Leonardo da Vinci developed drawings on paper to explore ideas in preparation for creating paintings and sculptures. At the outset of the 20th century, paper would become not only the support, but also the medium itself, as Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque explored collage, layering numerous fragments of paper onto paper to create dense compositions. 

Works on paper have been central in importance for American artists, both as studies for creation in other media and as finished works of art. These include watercolors and other paintings on paper, pastels, drawings, serigraphs, lithographs, aquatint etchings, monotypes, wood block prints, wood cut prints, collage, photography, manuscripts and even artists’ books. Whatever the technique, it is the medium – paper – that classifies the artwork under the term “work on paper.”