Visitors to the Yale University Art Gallery this summer will have the opportunity to view four special exhibitions in addition to the gallery's renowned permanent collection. This year, for the first time, the gallery will be open during the month of August.
Two of the special exhibitions focus on art at Yale. "Then and Now and Later: Art Since 1945 at Yale," which is on view through Friday, July 31, explores the forces behind the formation of Yale's collection of contemporary art. It examines how the collecting practices of Katherine Dreier, a major donor, and the teaching methods of artist Josef Albers at the School of Art attracted some of America's most influential artists to study at Yale and inspired collectors to donate works to the University. The exhibition concludes with current work by artists who graduated from Yale in the past two decades.
"American Art at Yale: 25 Years of Collecting" celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Friends of American Art at Yale in two ways. It features an exhibition of works on paper titled "By American!" and encourages visitors to walk through all the Yale museum's American galleries where paintings, sculpture and decorative arts objects acquired in the past quarter-century are highlighted. The exhibition of works on paper closes on Sunday, Aug. 16, but the "treasure hunt" through the museum's American galleries will continue through the fall.
"Masami Teraoka: The Floating World Comes of Age" is an exhibition of contemporary watercolors which draw on stylistic conventions of the Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print, yet incorporate pop art references to mass consumer culture. This exhibition will be on view from Tuesday, May 19, through Sunday, July 26. Teraoka, who was born in Japan and is now a resident of Hawaii, depicts scenes with such topical content as fast food, ecological ruin, AIDS and culture wars. He will give the opening lecture for the exhibition, "Ascending Chaos," on Friday, May 22, at 5 p.m.
A selection of paintings by European artists that have been on loan to the Yale Art Gallery for almost 20 years will be brought together in one gallery from Tuesday, June 9, through Sunday, Aug. 30. "Saints, Sinners and Scenery: European Genre and Landscape Paintings from the Collection of Dr. Herbert and Monika Schaefer" includes works by Jan Brueghel the Elder, Michael Sittow and many more northern European artists.
Gallery talks are offered at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays and noon on Thursdays. (Individual topics will appear in the Calendar section of future issues of the Yale Bulletin & Calendar.)
Docent-led masterpiece tours of the permanent collection are given on Saturdays at 11 a.m. and on Sundays at 3 p.m.
A series of four Japanese films directed by Juzo Itami will be presented each Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. on June 7, 14, 21 and 28. On Sunday, July 12, at 4 p.m. filmmaker and art critic Michael Rush will introduce and screen his film "Biennial '97: Whitney Museum of American Art."
Located at the corner of Chapel and York streets, the Yale University Art Gallery and its museum shop and sculpture garden are open to the public Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, 1-6 p.m. Admission to the museum and the events listed above is free, but contributions are welcome. An entrance for persons using wheelchairs is at 201 York St. with an unmetered parking space nearby. For information on wheelchair access, call 432-0606. For general and program information, call 432-0600.