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Selected Paintings, Drawings & Books
Published on the occasion of the inauguration of the Yale Center for British Art.
100 pages, Unknown Binding
First published April 15, 1977
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April 25, 2012
Paul Mellon in his foreword says, "I don't believe many motives in life are clearcut or self-evident. Collecting especially is such a matter of time and chance—intellectual bent, individual temperament, personal taste, available resources, changing fashion..." And I agree with this absolutely. For me there is something about collecting that is both intimate and personal — it is like gathering, no, finding pieces of my life in the most serendipitous of moments.
This book shows various paintings from the vast "collection of British art assembled by Paul Mellon over the last twenty years." This was written in 1977, and at the time of writing, "the collection includes approximately seventeen hundred paintings, seven thousand drawings, five thousand prints, sixteen thousand rare books, and a small, representative group of sculptures." I was really very lucky to find this in the fourth floor of one of my favourite book-hunting places. I think this was never meant to be sold but was published as an accompaniment to the opening of the Yale Center for British Art in 1977, nine years before I was even born. But here it is in my hands, and it does feel serendipitous.
Some of the works I liked were:
- Mr. And Mrs. Hill by Arthur Devis, ca. 1748-50 (oil on canvas),
- The Blacksmith's Shop by Joseph Wright of Derby, A.R.A., 1771 (oil on canvas),
- Hadleigh Castle, the Mouth of the Thames — Morning, after a Stormy Night by John Constable, R.A., 1829 (oil on canvas), and possibly my favourite,
- The Death of Chatterton by Henry Wallis, R.W.S, undated (oil on panel), "...whose poems lie destroyed on the floor together with the fatal phial."
This book shows various paintings from the vast "collection of British art assembled by Paul Mellon over the last twenty years." This was written in 1977, and at the time of writing, "the collection includes approximately seventeen hundred paintings, seven thousand drawings, five thousand prints, sixteen thousand rare books, and a small, representative group of sculptures." I was really very lucky to find this in the fourth floor of one of my favourite book-hunting places. I think this was never meant to be sold but was published as an accompaniment to the opening of the Yale Center for British Art in 1977, nine years before I was even born. But here it is in my hands, and it does feel serendipitous.
Some of the works I liked were:
- Mr. And Mrs. Hill by Arthur Devis, ca. 1748-50 (oil on canvas),
- The Blacksmith's Shop by Joseph Wright of Derby, A.R.A., 1771 (oil on canvas),
- Hadleigh Castle, the Mouth of the Thames — Morning, after a Stormy Night by John Constable, R.A., 1829 (oil on canvas), and possibly my favourite,
- The Death of Chatterton by Henry Wallis, R.W.S, undated (oil on panel), "...whose poems lie destroyed on the floor together with the fatal phial."
Displaying 1 of 1 review