Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 26-May 3, 1999

Volume 27, Number 30

British Art Center pays tribute
to its founder with Stubbs exhibit

When philanthropist Paul Mellon began to collect works by George Stubbs in the 1930s, the English artist was largely overlooked and dismissed as merely a "horse painter."

Over the years, Mellon amassed many of Stubbs' paintings and drawings and -- in part because of the philanthropist's activity as a collector -- the artist's reputation began to revive in the 1950s.

The Yale Center for British Art will pay homage to the Yale alumnus who founded the museum with a special exhibition of paintings, prints and drawings by his favorite artist, titled "George Stubbs in the Collection of Paul Mellon: A Memorial Exhibition." The show, which will gather together for the first time in one place Mellon's collection of the work of Stubbs, will be on view April 30-Sept. 5.

George Stubbs (1724-1806) helped raise animal and sporting pictures to the level of great art. He is probably best known today for his dramatic scenes of horses attacked by lions in wild and desolate landscapes. An innovative artist, Stubbs experimented with new techniques, even painting on ceramic surfaces created by Josiah Wedgwood. Stubbs also published his work, and in 1776 he was the first artist to produce a complete "Anatomy of the Horse."

Mellon was 29 years old in 1936 when he purchased his first Stubbs painting, "Pumpkin with a Stable Lad" (1774), which will be on view in the British Art Center show. Over the next 50 years, the philanthropist amassed a collection of over 30 of the artist's paintings. He was advised in this venture by Basil Taylor, a scholar and connoisseur of Stubbs's work.

In 1980, Mellon acquired from the Worcester Public Library in Massachusetts 125 drawings created by Stubbs for his comparative anatomy of "man, bird and animal," a work that was never published. Mellon, who said he considered those drawings amongst Stubb's finest and most comprehensive work, gave the collection to the Yale Center for British Art. Because of their fragility, these drawings are rarely exhibited and will form a key part of the memorial exhibition.

"Paul Mellon was determined to bring full recognition to Stubbs' genius, and to that end, he made many gifts of works by Stubbs to public institutions during his lifetime," says Patrick McCaughey, director of the British Art Center. "He presented works to both the Tate Gallery and the Royal Veterinary College of the University of London.

"Mr. Mellon's most spectacular contribution, however, was a gift of 15 paintings to the Yale Center for British Art, giving the museum the largest public collection of George Stubbs in the world," adds McCaughey. Through the alumnus' final bequest, a further group of paintings and drawings by Stubbs will be added to the collection of the Yale musuem.

In conjunction with the opening of the exhibition, there will be a talk titled "George Stubbs and Thomas Eakins: The Anatomy of Vision" by Jules D. Prown, the Paul Mellon Professor of Art. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will take palce at 4 pm. on Friday, April 30, in the lecture hall of the Yale University Art Gallery, entrance on High Street.

In addition, there will be gallery talks at the British Art Center on various aspects of the exhibition at 1 p.m. on five Thursdays: May 6, 13 and 20, and June 17 and 24. There will also be gallery talks at 1 p.m. on three Saturdays: May 8 and 22, and June 26.

The Yale Center for British Art, located at 1080 Chapel St., is open to the public free of charge 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. The building is wheelchair accessible. For information, call 432-2800 or visit the museum's website at www.yale.edu/ycba.

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