This fourth iteration of Explore the Vaults features pieces from the museum’s permanent collection, specifically paintings known as “cabinet pictures” and small works on paper. The former are diminutive paintings which are exquisitely executed for viewing at close range or which reveal the artist’s creative process. They take their name from the little rooms or cabinets in which such works traditionally were displayed.

Explore the Vaults: Cabinet Pictures and Works on Paper celebrates the gifts of a few key collectors. Among these is Margaret Acheson Stuart (1896–1980), the museum’s founder. The small sizes of these light-sensitive drawings, watercolors, etchings, and engravings, make them perfect subject for the close looking and contemplation offered by the more intimate gallery space and drawered cabinets.