Yale center for British Art

Yale Center For British art

About the center.
Presented to the university by Paul Mellon (Class of 1929)‚ the Yale Center for British Art houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. The collection of paintings‚ sculpture‚ drawings‚ prints‚ rare books‚ and manuscripts reflects the development of British art‚ life‚ and thought from the Elizabethan period onward. The Center offers a year-round schedule of exhibitions and educational programs‚ including films‚ concerts‚ lectures‚ tours‚ and special events. It also provides numerous opportunities for scholarly research‚ such as residential fellowships. Academic resources of the Center include the Reference Library and Photo Archive‚ Conservation Laboratory‚ and Study Room for examining works on paper. An affiliated institution in London‚ the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art‚ awards grants and fellowships‚ publishes academic titles‚ and sponsors Yale’s only credit-granting undergraduate study abroad program‚ Yale-in-London.
Not only does the center provide one with stunning and great paintings but it also has large collections of sculptures and drawings. During my visit to the museum I was shocked and amazed by the architecture of the building. Looking from outside one may not think that this is such a big building inside and that it looks like a work of art by it self. The building is a four-floor building. Each floor offers a different type of painting style and artwork.
Compared to my previous museum visits this one has to be the best experience I had so far. Yes there was no paintings that I remember or artists that I know. However that does not matter nor does it play a important role since this class is called a museum experience for a reason. If all of the museums contained arts of work that you like and expect to see then where is the experience in that. This museum experience was just opposite. And this is the main reason Why I found this museum to be a great experience.
Going back to the million-dollar question, which painting I would buy with that money. During this visit I found it extremely hard to pick out one painting that I would want to buy. So this time I could not pick one painting that I would buy because there were so many that I would love to have.
One thing that I noticed at the center is those British artists have great appreciation toward their architecture and their landscapes. I noticed this due to overwhelming amount of landscape paintings of the big king and queen mansions and their landscapes.
Painting that caught my eye was painting by Joseph Wright and it is a painting of a cave looking toward the sea. This painting is extreme because there was same painting next to it where the artist painted one picture where the cave has no water in it and on the second painting the tide was in and the cave was filled with water. All of the painting s at the center were extremely detailed and well painted that one will have to stop and look at it really hard to see and realize that it is a painting and not a photograph.
Another set of paintings that I have found interesting was The Sea by James Thomson this series consisted of several large scale paintings where artist painted ships on water in different mother nature circumstances. In some paintings artist painted ships under attack and in some he painted them where Mother Nature was taking control of them and people were doing everything they can to survive.
This museum experience was amazing and spending two hours at the center was just not enough time because before I knew it, it was time to leave because maximum number of hours I could park on the street by Yale was two dude to the huge amount of construction that was occurring. In the future I am looking to go back and spend more time at the center and read more about each painting and each artist because it is a great place top visit and spend the day in.