The Hyde Collection has acquired an extensive collection of nineteenth-century French etchings, engravings, woodcuts, and books. Donated by Tobin A. Sparling, in memory of his parents Leon H. and Marie Buttlar Sparling, the gift includes works by Pierre Bonnard, Felix Bracquemond, Jules Cheret, Eugene Delacroix, Maurice Denis, Henri Evenepoel, Jean-Louis Forain, Theodore Gericault, Hentri-Gabriel Ibels, Alphonse Mucha, Paul Serusier, Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Felix Vallotton, among others.

"We are so very appreciative of this significant gift to the Museum," says Hyde director Charles Guerin. "As a child, Tobin remembers coming to The Hyde with his parents on a regular basis. They instilled in him the love of art which makes this generous gift even more meaningful for us."

This donation is the second major gift made by Mr. Sparling. In 2008, he donated thirty Old Master prints surveying the major printmaking styles and techniques in Northern and Southern Europe from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The prints were featured in the exhibition Old Master Prints from the Sparling Family Collection in 2009. IN 2012, Sparling lent twenty-three nineteenth-century prints to the exhibition Toulouse-Laurtrec & Company: Prints from the Belle Epoque. A majority of these works are included in this gift.

"It is a pleasure to donate to The Hyde, which not only evokes wonderful childhood memories, but also goes from strength to strength and gets better and better," states Sparling. "I hope this gift will encourage others to support which I believe is one of the crown jewels of upstate New York."

Originally from South Glens Falls, New York, Mr. Sparling currently lives in Houston, Texas where he is a Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law, specializing in legal research and writing. A graduate of South Glens Falls Senior High School, Dartmouth College, and Columbia University, Sparling also holds a graduate degree in library science and history. Before obtaining his law degree, he worked in the rare books departments of Yale Center for British Art and at the print collection of the New York Public Library, where his interest in French prints developed.