Yale University Art Gallery
1111 Chapel Street
New Haven, CT 06510
(203) 432-0600
Open: Sunday 10:00am-6:00pm/Monday-Thursday Closed/Friday 5:00pm-8:00pm/Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm
My review on TripAdvisor:
On a recent trip to New Haven, CT for the Yale versus Cornell game, I had enough time after the game to visit one of the University’s art museum’s that was located down the road from the stadium, the Yale University Art Museum. This four story museum displays the history of art from all over the world. It is by no means a small museum gallery and you will need more than one afternoon this very detailed museum.
The Yale University Art Gallery at 1111 Chapel Street
I started on the first floor with their Ancient Art galleries featuring items from digs that the university sponsored over 100 years ago. There are works from the Ancient Near East, Egypt and Europe from tiles from Mesopotamia to small idols from Egypt and funeral pieces from Europe beautifully displayed and lit. The gallery showed the level of sophistication of these societies and the advancement thousands of years ago. This lead to the Middle Ages Gallery showing the change of art after the fall of the Roman Empire.
The Ancient Galleries were a favorite of mine
Bypassing the other floors, I next ventured next to the “On the Basis of Art: 150 Years of Women at Yale”, a current exhibition that showcased the work of Alumni of the Fine Arts School of Yale whose works were influencing the art community all over the world.
The “On the Basis of Art” exhibition
The show “showcases and celebrates the remarkable achievement of an impressive roster of women artists who have graduated from Yale University. Presented on the occasion of the two major milestones, the 50th Anniversary of coeducation at Yale College and the 150th anniversary of the first women students at the University, who to study at the Yale School of the Fine Arts when it opened in 1869, the exhibition features works draws entirely from the collection of the Yale University Gallery that span a variety of media, such as painting, sculpture, drawings, prints, photography and video since 1891(Yale University website).
The exhibition spread over several galleries displaying all sorts of interesting art. What I enjoyed most was some of the contemporary drawings and sculpture. Their works were colorful and bold some of which I was impressed with the message the works were trying to portray. Some I understood and some I had to take a second look.
One of the works that really captured my attention was the work of a Black media artist from the 1970’s and her views of racism of always feeling like the only one in the room. It was a sensitive and very emotional viewpoint of a educated and sophisticated woman who always felt marginalized. It was a very honest approach to the work and you felt for her.
For the last half hour in the museum, I was able to quickly tour the each of the other galleries touring the Contemporary Galleries, the Asian Galleries, admiring some of the idols on display and then taking a quick tour of the African Galleries admiring masks and statuary.
You will need more than an hour to tour this museum and admire its works. I will be back in the future.
History of the Museum:
(from the Museum’s website)
The Yale University Art Gallery collects, preserves, studies and presents art in all media, from all regions of the globe and across time. The museum’s exceptional collection, numbering nearly 300,000 objects, is the core of its identity. It sustains and catalyzes all we do.
Founded in 1832, The Gallery is the oldest university art museum in America. Today, it is a center for teaching, learning and scholarship and is a preeminent cultural asset for Yale University, the wider academic community and the public. The museum is open to all, free of charge and is committed to engaging audiences through thoughtful, creative, and relevant exhibitions, programs and publications.
The Museum’s Collection:
The Gallery’s encyclopedic collection can engage every interest. Spanning one and a half city blocks and three buildings, the museum features more than 4,000 works on display as well as a rooftop terrace and a sculpture garden. Galleries showcase artworks from ancient times to the present, including vessels from Tang-dynasty China, early Italian paintings, textiles from Borneo, treasures from American art, masks from West Africa, modern and contemporary art, ancient sculptures, masterworks by Degas, Van Gogh and Picasso and more
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 
Don’t miss this interesting and detailed museum on the Yale University campus.
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Reblogged this on mywalkinmanhattan and commented:
Don’t miss this interesting and detailed museum telling the story of art through the ages on the Yale University campus.
LikeLiked by 1 person