Yale Center for British Art facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yale Center for British Art
The Yale Center for British Art at Yale University (2024)
General information
Type	Art museum, Rare Book Library, Institute, Art center
Architectural style	Modern
Location	New Haven, Connecticut
Address	1080 Chapel Street
Coordinates	41°18′28.469″N 72°55′51.262″W / 41.30790806°N 72.93090611°W / 41.30790806; -72.93090611
Completed	1974
Technical details
Structural system	Concrete frame
Design and construction
Architect	Louis Kahn

The Yale Center for British Art is a special museum at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. It has the biggest collection of British art outside of the United Kingdom. You can see paintings, sculptures, drawings, and old books there. This collection shows how British art and culture changed over time, starting from the Elizabethan era. Martina Droth is the current director of the center.

How the Center Started

A Gift from Paul Mellon

The Yale Center for British Art was created thanks to a generous gift from Paul Mellon. He was a Yale University graduate from the class of 1929. In 1966, he gave his amazing collection of British art to Yale University. He also provided money to help run the center and to build a new home for the artworks.

Designing the Building

The building was designed by a famous architect named Louis I. Kahn. It was built in New Haven, right across the street from another building Kahn designed earlier, the Yale University Art Gallery.

The Yale Center for British Art was finished in 1974, after Kahn had passed away. It officially opened to the public on April 15, 1977.

Building Materials and Light

The outside of the building is made of dull steel and shiny glass. Inside, you'll find beautiful travertine marble, light-colored white oak wood, and soft Belgian linen. Kahn wanted to create cozy art spaces where visitors could see the art in soft, natural light. He designed the building to let in as much daylight as possible. Artificial lights are only used when it's dark outside or on cloudy days. The building's design, materials, and skylit rooms make it a simple and respectful place for the artworks.

Working with London

The center is connected to the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in London. This center helps students and researchers by offering grants and special programs. It also publishes academic books and supports Yale's study abroad program in London.

What You Can See: The Collection

Paintings and Sculptures

The Yale Center for British Art has nearly 2,000 paintings and 200 sculptures. Most of these artworks are from the period between 1697 (when William Hogarth was born) and 1851 (when J. M. W. Turner passed away).

Some of the famous artists whose works are here include:

• Thomas Gainsborough
• George Stubbs
• Joseph Wright
• John Constable
• Joshua Reynolds
• Thomas Lawrence
• Francis Danby
• Robert Polhill Bevan
• Stanley Spencer
• Barbara Hepworth
• Ben Nicholson

The collection also features art by European and North American artists who lived and worked in Britain. These include Hans Holbein, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Canaletto, Johann Zoffany, John Singleton Copley, Benjamin West, and James McNeill Whistler.

Interior of the fourth floor

Fourth floor lobby

Special Art Types

The museum has many interesting types of art:

• Small Group Portraits: These are called "conversation pieces." They show small groups of people talking or doing things together. Artists like Hogarth, Gainsborough, and Johan Zoffany created these.
• Landscape Paintings: Beautiful scenes of nature by artists like Gainsborough, Constable, and Turner.
• Sporting and Animal Paintings: Art showing sports and animals, especially by George Stubbs and Alfred Munnings.
• Other Art: You can also find paintings of ships, London city scenes, travel art from India, and portraits of actors.

Famous sculptors whose works are in the collection include Louis-Francois Roubiliac, Joseph Nollekens, Francis Chantrey, Jacob Epstein, and Henry Moore.

Drawings, Watercolors, and Prints

The center has a huge collection of 20,000 drawings and watercolors, plus 31,000 prints. This includes many British sporting art pieces and figure drawings.

Some of the artists featured are:

• Hogarth
• Paul Sandby
• Thomas Rowlandson
• William Blake
• John Constable
• Samuel Palmer
• J. M. W. Turner
• Walter Sickert
• Duncan Grant
• Paul Nash
• Edward Burra
• Stanley Spencer
• Augustus John
• Gwen John
• Artists from the Pre-Raphaelites movement.

Rare Books and Manuscripts

The center's library holds 35,000 rare books and manuscripts. This includes old maps, atlases, books about sports, and original papers from British artists. There are also pages from very early printed books, called incunabula.

The collection also has a complete set of books from William Morris's Kelmscott Press. A big part of the illustrated book collection came from Major J. R. Abbey. He was one of the first people to collect British color-plate books. These books, over 2,000 of them, describe British life, customs, scenery, and travel from 1770 to 1860.

Visiting the Center

The Yale Center for British Art has four floors. It offers exhibitions and educational programs all year round. You can enjoy films, concerts, lectures, tours, and family activities. The center also helps scholars with their research. It has a reference library with 40,000 books, a photo archive, and special rooms for studying artworks on paper.

The center is open to everyone six days a week, and it's free to enter! It is also part of the North American Reciprocal Museums program.

Gallery

See also

In Spanish: Centro de Arte Británico de Yale para niños

• Yale University Art Gallery