Yale University Art Gallery: Paper #3

I went to the Yale University gallery on my own. I am most familiar with this museum. There was construction when I arrived, but it did not ruin any first impressions since I know I love the place.

It is hard to get a full view of the building since it is such a congested area of New Haven. I love the sitting area when you first walk in. There is plenty of books and chairs. One can just come in and sit or read about history and art if they have the interests or the time. The Wadsworth and British center both had libraries of books, but they were closed at the time I visited, even though this is a smaller selection it is always available, which is nice.

Louis I. Kahn, who also designed the British Center across the street, designed the Yale University gallery building. You can see the cold, stone and glass similarities. There were also courtyards, but the courtyards were outside and closed off from the museum. There is less natural woods and more stone and white walls. But the natural lighting is used as much as possible in the majority of the galleries.

There selection is the smallest of the museums I have visited, but it is still very diverse and well rounded. There is large African and Asian galleries, Greek and Roman art, Modern European and American pieces, European and American pieces that take part in the Renaissance, medieval and baroque periods, and much more. The two special exhibits are on the first floor. I was able to take pictures of one, but not another. There was a photographic and written exhibit of 9-11 by Leo Rubinfien. He took photographs of people from cities all around the world who were affected by or victims of different terrorist attacks.

The larger special exhibit was called “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”. This has been an evolving exhibit by many different artists that portrays the different aspects of American life. There are three installations, which started in July of 2011 and will continue to this July. The art is supposed to represent different cultural changes, victories and struggles from colonial times to the Industrial Revolution and more.

The specific piece I chose was from the Asian gallery. I have seen this piece once before in a prior visit to the museum and I could look at it all day long. The first time I saw it, it was placed in a different area then this visit. I liked the first placement because it was right when you walked into the gallery from the African entrance and it was a great way to be brought into the Asian pieces. The art is a ceramics piece by Fukami Sueharu. He was born in 1947 in an Asian region known for kiln production and manufactories. His father was a ceramic craftsman and he learned the trade. He began to be influenced by modern art from the western culture and began to create unique pieces. He desired to create works that expressed continuity of space. Sueharu was fascinated with concepts of eternity and continuity. He did a lot of ocean and wave works, which the piece I chose is a part of.

The work is called “View of the Distant Sea II” from his Showa period. It was created in 1985 and is made of a bluish-white “half-porcelain” substance called seihakuji with a celadon glaze. The depth, width, length and dimension are completely attractive to me. In my pictures you can see the smooth lines and curves. There is hardly any detail, but it truly captures the modern thought that was influenced from the 1960’s - 1980’s. You feel the motion and the consistency. It feels at certain angles that the piece never ends. It truly does express space and eternity and you get a real feel of the artist’s personality and desires.

The Asian and African galleries were my favorite in the Yale galleries. Though it is a smaller museum, it is still very diverse with a lot of information and facilities available. I went on my own, without a tour, but I think my second visit I will go on a tour because I have never been in this museum. Here are some more pieces from the Asian section of the museum.