I encourage you to enjoy all that the Gallery has to offer this spring and summer. Awaiting you in the James E. Duffy Gallery is a must-see installation of prints, drawings, and photographs. Among my favorites is a large oil stick drawing by the 20th-century artist Jean-Michel Basquiat that provides a powerful commentary on the interplay of race and sports in America. In the European galleries, stellar paintings from the Yale Center for British Art are now hung alongside our own collection, creating provocative juxtapositions. Meanwhile, the Asian galleries showcase Javanese shadow puppets as well as thematic displays of Chinese and South Asian painting.
Three special exhibitions open this semester. Munch and Kirchner: Anxiety and Expression features prints by the Expressionist artists Edvard Munch and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Sheila Levrant de Bretteville: Community, Activism, and Design examines the socially responsive work of this graphic designer, public artist, and educator. Celebrating 2024, which is linked to the dragon in the Eastern Zodiac calendar, Year of the Dragon explores the artistic tradition around this fantastical creature.
The Yale Collections series also debuts this spring. The affordably priced publications include new research on some of the Gallery’s most notable objects. The inaugural book, The Naseby Cup: Coins and Medals of the English Civil War, offers a deep dive into this exquisite Victorian-era cup. The second book, Celadon on the Seas: Chinese Ceramics from the 9th to the 14th Century, will be available this fall.
Our educational initiatives and innovations in scholarly research are making possible new ways of looking at the collection, and we continue to expand digital access. This includes the rolling launch of Italian Paintings at the Yale University Art Gallery, our first born-digital publication. Finally, we have made great progress in positioning the West Campus Collection Studies Center as a hub of interdisciplinary study and cutting-edge conservation techniques.
Be sure to download our Smartify mobile app to explore our holdings from anywhere. Likewise, our website is a vital resource for experiencing our collections and programs or for conducting research.
Come and visit us often this spring and summer!
Stephanie Wiles
The Henry J. Heinz II Director
