I want to offer a warm welcome to the new Paul Mellon Director at the Yale Center for British Art, Martina Droth. Martina has been a driving force behind many of the Center’s important exhibitions and strategic initiatives during her 16-year tenure, most recently as chief curator and deputy director, and has encouraged collection-sharing between our two museums. Many years ago, Louis Kahn envisioned a physical bridge linking the Gallery and the Center, and while that bridge was never built, a metaphorical bridge is evident in the close partnerships we have developed over the past few years. 

The Center reopens with the exhibitions J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality, marking the 250th anniversary of the painter’s birth, and Tracey Emin: I Loved You Until the Morning, the artist’s first major show in North America. Opening March 28 at the Gallery, Romney: Brilliant Contrasts in Georgian England features the work of the 18th-century British portrait painter George Romney. A highlight of this collaboration is the inclusion of historical instruments from Yale’s Morris Steinert Collection.

I invite you to spend time in David Goldblatt: No Ulterior Motive, a major retrospective that spans the South African photographer’s seven-decade career and his commitment to documenting the realities of daily life in his country. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, available for purchase in the Museum Store and online. Also, be sure not to miss our new installations of works on paper, Jim Dine “This Is Me” and Photography and the Botanical World.  

If you are unable to visit in person, you can access our vast collection and other resources, including the latest issue of the Gallery’s magazine, on this website or create your own self-guided, virtual tour using the Smartify app. We look forward to welcoming you! 

Stephanie Wiles
The Henry J. Heinz II Director