Yale University Art Gallery

The Yale University Art Gallery was founded in 1832 when John Trumbull, donated over 100 paintings of the American Revolution to the college. http://www.artinthepicture.com/artists/John_Trumbull/bunker.jpeg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_University_Art_Gallery
The Gallery of Fine Arts, as it was known, was designed by well-known architect Egerton Swartwout, B.A. 1891, which opened on September 27, 1928. Swartwout designed the building in Gothic style, which is evident throughout the University. He was influenced by Florentine structures such as the Palace of the Bargello and the Davanzati Palace. There is symbolic meaning behind the architecture: the relief sculptures on the High Street bridge, for example, represent winged females symbolizing Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, and Drama. Inside in the Sculpture Hall, the carved shields bear the coats of arms of great patrons of art, among them the Medici, Louis XIV, Philip II of Spain, and Charles I of England. The structure is known as the Swartwout building which still contains portions of the Gallery’s collection.

The museum reopened in 1953 as Yale University Art Gallery and Design Center designed by architect, Louis Kahn. It was designed with geometric forms to create expansive spaces displaying light and shadow. It was Kahn’s first public commission and masterpiece. http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/855775.jpg It is constructed from brick, concrete, glass, and steel in contrast to the neo-Gothic style Yale campus and Swartwout building. The museum reopened in 1953 as Yale University Art Gallery and Design Center designed by architect, Louis Kahn. It was designed with geometric forms to create expansive spaces displaying light and shadow. It was Kahn’s first public commission and masterpiece. It is constructed from brick, concrete, glass, and steel in contrast to the neo-Gothic style Yale campus and Swartwout building.
The second floor of the renovated Art Gallery features a new permanent gallery devoted to African art featuring the Charles B. Benenson collection, ritual figures and masks from West and Central Africa. Over 500 objects in the Benenson collection were acquired in 2004. It is one of the most important African Art Exhibits in the U.S.
The third floor displays Early European Art and Modern and Contemporary Art. The fourth floor houses prints, drawings, photographs, and special exhibits.

The museum has grown to over 185,000 works of art including African Art, American Decorative Arts, American Paintings and Sculpture, Ancient Art, Art of the Ancient Americas, Asian Art, Coins and Medals, Early European Art, Modern and Contemporary Art and Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
http://www.artstor.org/what-is-artstor/w-html/col-yale-peabody.shtml

I was really captivated by the 19th Century, Impressionist Era. The art I have chosen was by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, called La Montagne Saint-Victoire, 1888-1889. I know my picture does not capture the true beauty of this painting. Before I go to some interesting details about it, I would like to tell you about the painter.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France on February 25, 1841 was a famous French impressionist painter. http://www.mystudios.com/art/impress/renoir/renoir-self-portrait.jpg
From in the early 1860s when Renoir started studying art under Charles Gleyre in Paris, to his last day when handicapped by rheumatoid arthritis and he was forced to paint by strapping a brush to his arm, and created sculptures by directing an assistant who worked the clay, Renoir's painting were always beautiful and optimistic. So was his view of life and his painful condition. The pain passes, but the beauty remains was Renoir's words.
http://www.renoir.org.yu/

In 1854 he began work as a painter in a porcelain factory in Paris, gaining experience with the light, fresh colors that were to distinguish his Impressionist work and also learning the importance of good craftsmanship. His predilection towards light-hearted themes was also influenced by the great Rococco masters, whose works he studied in the Louvre.
In 1862 he entered the studio of Gleyre and there formed a lasting friendship with
Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, and Frédéric Bazille. He painted with them in the Barbizon district and became a leading member of the group of Impressionists who met at the Café Guerbois. His relationship with Monet was particularly close at this time, and their paintings of the beauty spot called La Grenouillère done 1869 (an example by Renoir is in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm) and are considered as the classic early Impressionist style.

By the mid-1880s, he applied a more disciplined, formal technique to portraits and figure paintings, particularly of women (e.g. , Bathers, 1884-87).
While visiting Italy in 1881-82 inspired him to seek a greater sense of solidarity in his work. The change in attitude is seen in The Umbrellas (NG, London) The two little girls on the right are painted with the feathery brush-strokes characteristic of his Impressionist manner, but the figures on the left are done in a crisper and drier style, with duller coloring. After a period of experimentation with what he called his `manière aigre' (harsh or sour manner) in the mid 1880s, he developed a softer and more supple kind of handling. At the same time he turned from contemporary themes to more timeless subjects, mostly nudes, but also pictures of young girls in unspecific settings. As his style became grander and simpler he also took up mythological subjects (The Judgement of Paris; Hiroshima Museum of Art; 1913-14), and the female type he preferred became more mature and ample.

In the 1890s Renoir began to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, and from 1903 he lived in the south of France. The rheumatism eventually crippled him, (by 1912 he was confined to a wheelchair), but he continued to paint until the end of his life, and in his last years he also took up sculpture, directing assistants (usually Richard Guino, a pupil of Maillol) to act as his hands. He showed great determination strapping a brush to his arm to paint. (Venus Victorious;Tate, London; 1914). He said, “The pain passes, but the beauty remains”.
Renoir is best-loved for his pretty children, flowers, beautiful landscapes, and perhaps above all the lovely women. He communicated the inspirational joy and optimism he took in.
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/renoir/
The Bathers, The Umbrellas, Luncheon of the Boating Party (his wife is in this one) and one of the most expensive paintings ever, Le Moulin de la Galette are among his well-known works of art. They are full of sparkling color and light. Renoir once said: “Why shouldn't art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world”.
http://www.renoir.org.yu/

The painting I have chosen was inspired by:

Montagne Sainte-Victoire, a limestone mountain ridge located in the south of France between Bouches-du-Rhône and Var was a source of inspiration for Pablo Picasso, Wassilyh Kandinsky, and Paul Cézanne, who could see it from his house.
The Croix de Provence is a notable feature of the mountain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montagne_Sainte-Victoire http://www.web-provence.com/aix-rues/sainte-victoire/sainte-victoire-saint-marc.jpg


An interesting fact that I learned is that impressionists use colors for shadowing instead of the traditional black and white. Here are some good videos I found also:

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/113789_understanding-art-pierre-auguste-renoir.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn8eSVABMc0

In comparison, here are some other impressionists pictures that I took at the museum:

The Artists Garden at Giveny by Claude Monet and
Vue de Saint-Ouen Vue de Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône (View of Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône)