Yale Art Gallery, the Oldest University Museum in America

The Gallery’s Beginnings Yale University’s art collection dates back to a foundational gift made in 1718 by the East India Company official and early benefactor Elihu Yale. The gift included a large sum of money, several boxes of books, and a Portrait of King George I by the British artist Sir Godfrey Kneller. In the century that followed, fewer than thirty-five works were added to the collection. But the situation changed in 1832, when the American artist John Trumbull sold 28 of his history paintings and 60 miniature portraits to the University. Born into a prominent political Connecticut family, Trumbull built his artistic career depicting the events of the Revolutionary War, of which he was himself a veteran. By placing his paintings at Yale, he aimed to secure his artistic legacy. He also designed the neoclassical building for exhibiting the works. It opened to the public on October 25, 1832, making the Gallery the first university art museum in the United States. Trumbull stipulated that he and his wife were to be buried beneath the building, with his art serving as his monument. As YUAG moved to new buildings,…