American Art at Yale

An exhibit opens today at the Yale University Art Gallery in Connecticut: “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” [Let’s see if that link survives now that the exhibit actually opens.]

The gallery has been closed for a couple of years for renovation, and many of its best pieces of American art have been touring the country in this exhibit.

The collection will be displayed in New Haven in three stages:

• “We the People,” 29 July–31 Dec 2011
• “Defining the Nation,” 31 Jan–8 Apr 2012
• “America Rising,“ 8 May–8 July 2012

The gallery’s “Upcoming Exhibits” page explains:

This exhibition draws upon the Gallery’s renowned collection of American paintings, decorative arts, and prints to illuminate the diverse and evolving American experience from the time of the settlements of the late 17th century to the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893.

There are more than 200 works overall, including John Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence (shown above) and Winslow Homer’s Morning Bell. And the museum is free and open to us the people.