Drawing

The V&A holds over 14,000 European drawings and sketchbooks dating from the 15th century to the present day. The collection covers a broad range of materials and techniques used by artists. It showcases the various functions of drawing, from preparatory studies for paintings to designs for textiles and fashion.

The collection is particularly strong in drawings by British, Italian, French, Dutch and Flemish artists. Highlights include works by world-renowned artists such as Tintoretto, Anthony van Dyck, Angelica Kauffman, John Constable, Degas, and Barbara Hepworth.

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Features

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Artist, printmaker and illustrator: the enchanted worlds of  Mary Headlam

Chalk, watercolour and gouache, creating images infused with a sense of romanticism

  1. Interact

    Beatrix Potter: a life drawing nature

    Explore a selection of highlights from Beatrix's life of drawing nature

  2. Watch

    Illustration inspired by Beatrix Potter's botanical drawing
  3. Watch

    Chris Riddell: Drawing 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'

    How to draw Alice, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts and a unique, androgynous Mad Hatter
  4. Read

    Jewellery designs

    Take a look at some of the intricate jewellery designs we have in our collection
  5. Read

    Constable's watercolour sketches

    Take a closer look at the techniques used by Constable in his later works
  6. Read

    Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks

    The V&A holds five notebooks owned by Leonardo da Vinci – a unique insight into one of the greatest minds of the Italian Renaissance
  7. Interact

    Explore Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks: Codex Forster I

    The complete notebook in amazing detail
  8. Watch

    Gerald Scarfe: drawing inspiration

    Join the cartoonist Gerald Scarfe as he discusses his varied work and career
  9. Read

    Watercolours from the Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo

    One of the grandest pictorial records of the 17th century
  10. Read

    Architects and their sketchbooks

    Architects sketchbooks provide freedom. They are a personal record of thoughts, observations, problems and memories
  11. Read

    Aubrey Beardsley – decadence & desire

    "I have one aim – the grotesque. If I am not grotesque, I am nothing"
  12. Read

    Design for a vaulted ceiling by Vincenzo Brenna

    Find out about Architect Vincenzo Brenna's elegant hand drawn designs for Emperor Nero's Roman palace
  13. Read

    Philip Webb: a new vision for domestic space 

    Philip Webb's designs for Red House highlight his quietly revolutionary approach to the design of domestic space
  14. Interact

    Beatrix Potter's first sketchbook, aged 8

    Explore Beatrix Potter's earliest surviving sketchbook
  15. Interact

    Design and make a surreal critter

    Create your own surreal critter with these drawing challenges
  16. Make

    Design and make a spectacular party outfit

    Design a party outfit inspired by the shapes and patterns of men's fashion through the ages

Collection highlights

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  1. drawing
    Design for a monument in the form of a covered bowl, with a personification of Justice on the cover and other figures, drawing, by Andrea del Verrocchio, 1480 – 88, Italy
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment
  2. drawing
    Studies of figures, including a Virgin and Child, the heads of two angels, a youth and a draped female, drawing, by Giulio Cesare Procaccini, Italy
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment
  3. drawing
    Panoramic View of Jaén, with the Figure of a Man Sketching in the Foreground, drawing, by Anton van den Wyngaerde, 1567, Andalusia, Spain
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment
  4. design
    Design for the Great Seal depicting Elizabeth I, by Nicholas Hilliard, about 1585, London, England
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment
  5. drawing
    Study for a Male Figure Descending, drawing, by Peter Paul Rubens, about 1613 – 14, Southern Netherlands
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment
  6. drawing
    Fantasy view of the ruins of a castle on a river, with a barge crossing the ford, drawing, by Antonina Houbraken, Holland
    V&A South Kensington
    Not on display
  7. drawing
    Design for the ceiling of the Great Hall at Blenheim, drawing, by Sir James Thornhill, about 1715, England
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment
  8. drawing
    Page from a sketch book: No. 94 Woman reading at a table, chalk drawing, by Angelica Kauffman, late 1790s, Europe
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment
  9. sketchbook
    Sketchbook of drawings, by John Constable, July 1814 to October 1814, England
    On loan
  10. drawing
    Female nude, seated, bending forward, drawing, by William Mulready, 1856, Britain
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment
  11. drawing
    Study for 'The Channel at Gravelines, Evening', drawing, by Georges Seurat, 1890, France
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment
  12. drawing
    A gazelle, drawing, by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, 1913, France
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment
  13. watercolour drawing
    Blast Furnace, watercolour drawing, by Graham Vivian Sutherland, 1941, England
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment
  14. drawing
    Untitled, multi-pen plotter drawing on paper, by Roman Verostko, 1987, USA
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment
  15. drawing
    Head Study Two, drawing, by Alison Lambert, 2009, England
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment
  16. drawing
    Drawing, by Jacopo Tintoretto, about 1540 – 94, Italy
    V&A South Kensington
    View by appointment

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Header image:
Panoramic View of Jaén, with the Figure of a Man Sketching in the Foreground, drawing, by Anton van den Wyngaerde, 1567, Andalucia, Spain. Accession no. 8455:4. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London