What to Make of an Art Museum

About the time that John Trumbull completed the first Art Gallery at Yale, a younger artist, Samuel F.B. Morse painted his famous In the Gallery of the Louvre. It shows the power and activity of a great Art Gallery. He planned to display it in American cities which did not yet have Europe's cultural resources. Because Yale has just reopened one of the now most important galleries in the world, it's a good summer to explore how to use an art gallery.

Visit the Gallery three mornings. Short, focused visits. Get to know the organization of the collections. Then choose one work to study carefully. Make sketches (pencil only). Discuss what you see. Then return to our studio to explore the paints and processes that the artist used. When you follow an artist's eyes and hands, you learn his or her heart and mind.