Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 16, 2001Volume 29, Number 19



Alfred J. Manning's 1933 painting "Paul Mellon on Dublin" captures the benefactor's fondness for English country life.



Exhibit celebrates 'Paul Mellon Bequest'

The late alumnus Paul Mellon '29 enjoyed collecting British artworks so much that he eventually amassed more than enough to found and fill the museum now known as the Yale Center for British Art.

When he died in February of 1999, Mellon bequeathed over 1,500 additional artworks -- ones he had kept in his private collection for his own pleasure -- to the Yale museum. These included 300 paintings, 64 mostly small-scale sculptures, over 1,000 watercolors, and books, atlases and manuscripts, comprising over 5,000 titles.

The Yale Center for British Art will celebrate that parting gift from its founder and greatest benefactor in the exhibition "The Paul Mellon Bequest: Treasures of a Lifetime," on view Feb. 17-April 29.

The works on view reflect Mellon's tendency to collect items on subjects that were close to his heart -- such as his lifelong passion for English country life. Following an introductory section on the alumnus himself, there are sections devoted to horseracing; hunting, shooting and fishing; and the working horse.

The exhibit features 160 paintings, including a group of 15 small paintings and oil sketches of country scenes by John Constable; and animal and sporting pictures by George Stubbs, Ben Marshall, James Ward, Alfred Munnings, Robert Bevan and others.

The display also includes selections from the sculptures and 50 of the rarest and most interesting of the sporting books and manuscripts dating from 1450 to 1950.

When possible, the items will be arranged in the fashion that Mellon had them on display in his own home.

The exhibition is curated by Malcolm Warner, chief curator of paintings and sculpture at the British Art Center. "To the vast array of his gifts to the center since its opening, these works in Mr. Mellon's final bequest bring a firmer sense of his own life, character and interests," says Warner.

"The Paul Mellon Bequest: Treasures of a Lifetime" is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, with an introductory essay on Mellon as a collector by John Baskett, the first curator of the Mellon collection, and notes by Warner on the thematic sections and individual works.

Throughout his life, Mellon was deeply attracted to Britain -- its countryside, its institutions and particularly its art and literature. During his lifetime, he assembled the biggest and most comprehensive collection of British art in the world outside of the national collection in the Tate Gallery in London.

In 1966, Melon gave his collection to Yale, along with the pledge of constructing a building to house it and an endowment to sustain its operations in perpetuity. The Yale Center for British Art, the final building designed by American architect Louis I. Kahn, opened to the public in 1977. Today the museum is one of Connecticut's most popular tourist attractions, and the center serves as both a teaching and research arm of the University. Its acclaimed collection surveys the development of English art, life and thought from the Elizabethan period to the present. The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, an affiliated institution in London, awards grants for research, assists in publishing manuscripts in British art, and offers facilities to Yale students for programs of study abroad.

Located at 1080 Chapel St., the Yale Center for British Art is open to the public free of charge 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. For a recorded listing of weekly museum tours and events, call (203) 432-2800. The museum also maintains a website at www.yale.edu/ycba.


T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

New scholarship seeks to boost diversity in EPH

Exhibit celebrates 'Paul Mellon Bequest'

Columnist condemns 'infotainment' trend

Producer calls for more ethics in filmmaking

Students learning their letters in weekly calligraphy club

Yale SOM launches student-managed venture capital fund

NFL commissioner to discuss future of pro sports

New society advocates use of ecological concepts in industry

Senior Ben Trachtenberg wins prestigious Mitchell Scholarship

Liman Colloquium will examine law enforcement practices

Students will test skills in 'ultimate mind sport' with Yale sponsorship

Solnit will explore the 'Bioethics of Children's Rights'

Economist William Nordhaus to discuss dilemmas raised by 'global public goods'

Yale Dramat to present Brecht masterpiece

Dance troupes to unite in benefit performance

Garten to discuss his new book, 'The Mind of the C.E.O.'



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