Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 21, 2001

Volume 30, Number 3

Sir Anthony Van Dyck's "Queen Henrietta Maria and her Dwarf, Sir Jeffrey Hudson."

Tercentennial exhibit showcases
British masterpieces

Some of the greatest masterpieces of British painting -- drawn from both private and public American collections -- will be on display in a new exhibition at the Yale Center for British Art opening on Thursday, Sept. 27.

"Great British Paintings from American Collections: Holbein to Hockney" brings together nearly 80 of these masterpieces, offering an account of the history of painting in Britain from the 16th century to the present. The exhibit is the Yale Center for British Art's chief contribution to the University's program of events celebrating its Tercentennial.

Featuring works by such artists as Thomas Gainsborough, J.M.W. Turner and John Constable, the exhibition also reveals the particular tastes and interests of American collectors.

"The exhibition will include certain works of special importance in the history of the American taste for British art -- Turner's 'Staffa' from the Yale Center [for British Art's] collection, for instance, was the first painting by that artist to cross the Atlantic -- but the primary consideration in the selection has been artistic quality rather than historical interest," says Malcolm Warner, senior curator of paintings and sculpture, who helped organize the exhibit.

Both the Yale Center for British Art and the Huntington Art Collections in San Marino, California, each contributed about 10 paintings to the exhibit. The two institutions are considered the premier collections of British art in the United States. Following its run at Yale, the exhibition will be shown at the Huntington.

In addition to Turner's "Staffa," Yale's contribution includes William Hogarth's "The Beggar's Opera," George Stubbs' "Zebra," Joshua Reynolds' "Mrs. Abington" and Constable's "Hadleigh Castle." The Huntington has lent "Karl Friedrich Abel" by Thomas Gainsborough; "Diana, Viscountess Crosbie" by Reynolds; "Lady Hamilton in a Straw Hat" by George Romney; "The Grand Canal, Venice" by Turner; and "View on the Stour near Dedham" and "Salisbury Cathedral" by Constable.

A major highlight of the exhibition will be the Detroit Institute of Art's masterpiece painting "The Nightmare" by Henry Fuseli. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is supporting the exhibit with a loan of five paintings, including Thomas Lawrence's works "Elizabeth Farren" and "The Calmady Children." Works by three non-British artists who have worked in Britain have been lent by the National Gallery of Art in Washington: Anthony Van Dyck's "Queen Henrietta Maria and her Dwarf, Jeffrey Hudson," Gilbert Stuart's "The Skater" and James A. McNeill Whistler's "Wapping."

Other contributors to the exhibition include the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore; the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; and the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.

Constable's "The Wheatfield" and major works by Richard Parkes Bonington, John Everett Millais, Albert Moore, Stanley Spencer, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Lucian Freud and Jenny Saville are among the works on loan from private collections for the exhibit. Little-known works will be displayed alongside the more familiar landmarks of British painting.

The exhibition, which will be on view through Dec. 30, is sponsored by BP. It will be accompanied by an illustrated catalog.

The Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. For a recorded listing of weekly museum tours and events, call (203) 432-2800 or visit the center's website at www.yale.edu/ycba.

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