Yale Center for British Art

02/08/2025

Jelani Rashad, Postgraduate Research Associate in Conservation at the Yale Center for British Art, examines a work on paper by George Romney (1734–1802). His notes detail the appearance and condition of the work for the museum’s records.

“Lord Salisbury, Standing by a Pillar” will be included in the forthcoming exhibition “Romney: Brilliant Contrasts in Georgian England.” Co-organized by the Yale University Art Gallery and the Yale Center for British Art, this show features the work of the British portrait painter and will be on view at the Yale University Art Gallery beginning March 27.

Jelani’s position is funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation as an opportunity for recent college graduates to gain practical experience in conservation before applying to graduate programs. During his time at the YCBA, he has spent time in the Archives, Painting Conservation, and Paper Conservation departments to gain experience with a range of conservation activities.

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Image details:
Jelani Rashad in the paper conservation studio, Yale Center for British Art, photos by Jackie Gleisner

02/04/2025

Ready for a Venetian vacation? Transport yourself to La Serenissima, or “The Most Serene,” as the city was once known, in these watercolor sketches by Myles Birket Foster. The British illustrator, watercolorist, and engraver was born in 1825.

� Browse more works from the museum's collection through the link in our bio!

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Image details:
[1–2] Myles Birket Foster, "One of a Group of Three Studies of Gondolas," detail, undated (nineteenth century), watercolor and graphite on paper, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
[3] Myles Birket Foster, "Study of Fish, Venice," detail, 1874, watercolor and gouache on card, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
[4] Myles Birket Foster, "Studies of Spider Crabs, Venice," detail, 1874, watercolor and graphite on card, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

02/01/2025

Anita Dey, Assistant Paper Conservator, is inpainting on "Rockets and Blue Lights." This print, made by Robert Carrick, is a copy of an original artwork by J. M. W. Turner. Anita’s treatment addresses the areas of this work on paper where the media was disrupted by previous scratches and abrasions. She uses watercolor paints over a barrier layer so that the inpainting can be easily removed if needed during future conservation treatments.

This print will be included in "J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality," opening March 29. This is the first Turner exhibition to be held at the Yale Center for British Art in more than thirty years, coinciding with the artist's 250th birthday in April.

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Image details:
[1] Anita Dey, paper conservation studio, Yale Center for British Art, photo by Jackie Gleisner
[2] Print made by Robert Carrick (after J. M. W. Turner), "Rockets and Blue Lights," 1852, chromolithograph on paper, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

01/29/2025

NEWS: Martina Droth Appointed Director of Yale Center for British Art.

Martina Droth, an art historian and curator with 16 years of experience at the Yale Center for British Art (YCBA), has been named the museum's new Paul Mellon Director. Yale President Maurie McInnis announced her appointment, highlighting Droth’s significant contributions as the museum's deputy director and chief curator.

Read the full story on our website: https://callforcurators.com/blog/martina-droth-appointed-director-of-yale-center-for-british-art/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=social%2520media&utm_campaign=news-yale-center-25

01/29/2025

01/27/2025

Samuel Palmer—who was born in 1805—was one of the most innovative artists of the early nineteenth century. His visionary artworks often focused on the landscape and were inspired by his deep religious faith. Here we see three cows sheltering under the lodge with a spectacular heap of chartreuse moss growing on the roof.

Palmer met the artist John Linnell (1792–1882) in 1822. Linnell advised Palmer to study prints made by artists in previous centuries and encouraged him to look at the work of William Blake (1757–1827). In 1826 Palmer moved to Shoreham, where he was part of a group of artists inspired by Blake known as the Ancients. He painted this original watercolor in 1829 before leaving the village in 1835 to explore new subjects in Devon and Wales.

Image details: Samuel Palmer, "A Cow Lodge with a Mossy Roof," ca. 1829, watercolor, gouache, and pen and black ink on paper, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

01/25/2025

As part of its current building project, the YCBA carried out crucial work to preserve Louis I. Kahn’s iconic structure, including the replacement of the roof and 224 original skylights. In addition to replacing the skylights, the museum installed new cassettes. These three-foot-square panels are positioned below the skylight domes, where they diffuse sunlight entering the gallery space.

The new laylight cassettes—832 in total—were fabricated to match the original design, which was devised by the lighting designer Richard Kelly, in collaboration with the building contractor Kenneth Froeberg of Macomb. The cassettes help protect the museum's collection from direct light while creating an environment for viewing works of art that is responsive to the changing nature of daylight.

Following thorough analysis, the YCBA decided to incorporate a removable light-reducing film into the cassette systems. The film will reduce light exposure levels to better align with modern art conservation standards while remaining true to Kahn’s vision for the aesthetic quality and variation of daylight inside the building.

Image details:
[1-2] Cassette installation, photos by Richard Caspole
[3] Cassette, photo by Richard Caspole

01/22/2025

All smiles as Martina Droth was welcomed as the Paul Mellon Director of the Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) at a celebration hosted by Yale University President Maurie McInnis last week. With her extensive knowledge of British art and her innovative approach to scholarship, teaching, and community engagement, Droth has been instrumental in the museum’s success over the past sixteen years and is the ideal leader as the YCBA begins an exciting new chapter.

In a message to the Yale community, McInnis wrote, “Martina has been a driving force behind YCBA’s long-range strategy for research, collections, and exhibitions. She is now playing a vital role in reimagining the YCBA’s collection installation and conceiving a new curatorial program in readiness for the museum’s reopening in spring 2025.”

The Yale Center for British Art reopens to the public on March 29, 2025, following a two-year building conservation project.

�: Dan Renzetti

01/19/2025

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The Yale Center for British Art has announced its acquisition of “Young Mariner and Dog” (1833) by Elizabeth Emma Soyer (nee Jones; 1813-1842). The YCBA's Facebook post states that the painting is "among the first of the artist’s paintings to be accessioned by a museum and a testament to the YCBA’s commitment to expanding its historical holdings by women artists."

https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:173513

The National Gallery of Victoria also recently announced the acquisition of a Soyer painting, "The Escape." Read about it at https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/elizabeth-emma-soyer-the-escape/

Image details: Elizabeth Emma Soyer (née Jones), "Young Mariner and Dog," 1833, oil on canvas, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund; photo courtesy of Dominic Fine Art

01/18/2025

� The Yale Center for British Art recently acquired Emma Soyer’s “Young Mariner and Dog” (1833). This is among the first of the artist’s paintings to be accessioned by a museum and a testament to the YCBA’s commitment to expanding its historical holdings by women artists. While this painting depicts a particular person, it is intended to be viewed as a genre painting rather than a portrait and is representative of Soyer’s bold style, which was influenced by her instructor, the Flemish painter François Simoneau.

"We are thrilled to have acquired this arresting painting by Soyer, a trailblazing woman artist whose vivid and memorable images attracted much critical acclaim during her short life," says Lucinda Lax, Curator of Paintings and Sculpture. "The painterly rendering of the boy in his well-worn sailor’s garb and his companionable dog really succeeds in holding our attention. We are sure that it will quickly become a firm favorite among visitors."

Despite Soyer’s renown during her lifetime (1813–1842), her artistic legacy was largely forgotten until her painting “Two Children with a Book” (1831) appeared on the BBC’s television show “Fake or Fortune” in 2018. Soyer (née Jones) exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and the Paris Salon, as well as regional exhibitions across England. Following Soyer’s untimely death at the age of 28, an obituary in the “Times” described the “spirit . . . vigor, and . . . boldness” of her canvases.

Image details: Elizabeth Emma Soyer (née Jones), "Young Mariner and Dog," 1833, oil on canvas, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund

01/15/2025

Edward Town, Assistant Curator of paintings and sculpture at the Yale Center for British Art, recently traveled to Derbyshire and delved into the archives of Chatsworth, one of England’s great estates, to identify a missing person in a 1739 painting by Jean-Baptiste van Loo of "Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork, and His Wife Lady Dorothy Boyle with Three Children."

Read more in Yale Alumni Magazine: https://bit.ly/42mfmFI
Yale University

Giving a name to a painting's forgotten subject.

01/14/2025

The Yale Center for British Art's next Paul Mellon Director will be Martina Droth, an art historian and curator who has served in a variety of prominent roles at the museum for 16 years.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/3ClmTtQ Yale University

The museum’s chief curator will assume leadership of the largest collection of British art outside the UK as public reopening nears.

01/10/2025

"It is easy now to communicate with people through abstraction, and particularly so in sculpture since the whole body reacts to its presence . . . people become themselves a living part of the work." — Barbara Hepworth, born in 1903

Hepworth was at the height of her career when she made this work, "Four Rectangles with Four Oblique Circles" (1966). She had recently completed the sculpture "Single Form" for the plaza of the United Nations Secretariat in New York, and the public had grown more receptive to abstract sculpture.

The tabletop scale of this slate sculpture invites you to engage with it intimately. Walk around this sculpture, and you’ll notice how the various elements rearrange themselves according to your angle of vision.

Image details: Barbara Hepworth, "Four Rectangles with Four Oblique Circles," 1966, slate, Yale Center for British Art, gift of Susan Morse Hilles. Barbara Hepworth © Bowness.

01/06/2025

What are your New Year’s resolutions?

🌳 spend more time in nature
✂️ learn a new skill
📕 read more
🎨 experience works of art

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Image details:
[1] Francis Danby, “Landscape near Clifton,” detail, 1822 to 1823, oil on canvas, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
[2] Walter West, “The Patchwork Quilt,” detail, 1895, color lithograph, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
[3] John Linnell, “John Varley,” detail, 1820, oil on panel, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
[4] Alfred Joseph Woolmer, “Interior of the British Institution (Old Master Exhibition, Summer 1832),” detail, 1833, oil on canvas, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

01/04/2025

Mark Aronson, Deputy Director and Chief Conservator, and Jessica David, Head of Paintings Conservation, have been busy at the Conservation Lab at Yale’s West Campus, treating two large paintings that will be on view when the Yale Center for British Art reopens this spring.

Mark is retouching William Daniell’s “A View in China: Cultivating the Tea Plant” (ca. 1810). This landscape depicts a river valley in China where people cultivated and prepared tea leaves for export. The painting will be displayed on the fourth floor in a reconceived installation of the collection.

“Chateaux de St. Michael, Bonneville, Savoy” (1802 to 1803) by J. M. W. Turner, currently being retouched by Jessica, will be included in the exhibition “J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality.” Turner painted this Alpine landscape in his London studio, guided by sketches he made during his travels in Switzerland.

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Image details:
YCBA conservators at Yale West Campus, photos by Jessica Smolinski

01/02/2025

An article on artnet explores the anxieties over immorality, vanity, and foreign influence in the unusual artwork, "Two Women Wearing Cosmetic Patches," (ca. 1655). This painting is now on view at Compton Verney, following a conservation and research project at the Yale Center for British Art.

Read more: https://bit.ly/41Wx2Ys

A highly unusual 17th-century painting featuring a Black sitter and a white sitter side by side is on rare public view.

12/23/2024

A new essay on our website outlines an innovative research collaboration between the Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) in New Haven, CT, and Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park in Warwickshire, UK.

Read more:

Two Women Wearing Cosmetic Patches, was the subject of a research collaboration between the Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) and Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park in Warwickshire, UK.

12/17/2024

Wishing you plenty of peace this holiday season! ☮️

Flemish-born artist Peter Paul Rubens made this preparatory modello, or sketch, to guide the assistants in his busy Antwerp studio. In 1630 Rubens—a classical scholar and diplomat—visited London on behalf of the king of Spain. Charles I commissioned Rubens to decorate the ceiling of the Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace with a scheme celebrating the reign of Charles’s father, James I. These two female figures represent a smaller section of a large central panel. Here Peace appears draped in gold and moves to embrace Plenty, who carries a cornucopia, a symbol of abundance.

See this painting from the Yale Center for British Art’s collection on the second floor of the Yale Art Gallery, open today from 10 am to 5 pm.

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Image details:
[1–5] Visitors in front of “Peace Embracing Plenty,” Yale Art Gallery, photos by Jessica Smolinski
[6] Peter Paul Rubens, “Peace Embracing Plenty,” between 1633 and 1634, oil on panel, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection