The library has received a generous gift consisting of 300 sketches by the Cuban-born artist Emilio Sanchez (1921-1999) from the Emilio Sanchez Foundation. Sanchez is best known for his paintings of houses and architectural themes which emphasize the play of light and shadow on color. But the gift, which will become part of the Library’s Print Collection, consists of small drawings male and female figures that were executed on the backside of flyers, envelopes, invitation cards and other pieces of paper. For example, one colorful and robust drawing of male figures was done on the back of an invitation from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force dinner (see illustrations); a number of female figures are labeled “tortilleras,” slang for lesbians. Until now, these works were “largely seen as doodles, only marginally significant in comparison to the artist’s larger scale paintings of architecture and still lives, land- and cityscapes,” writes scholar Rudi C. Bleys. As a result of the Foundation’s gift, these doodles have now emerged from the boxes where they’d been preserved, and will expand the public and scholarly understanding of this underappreciated artist. The sketches will soon be available digitally through the Library’s Digital Gallery.