Treasures of Yale

An appreciation of the tragically brief career of Richard Parkes Bonington, an English Romantic painter of the early 19th century who influenced many better-known painters, including Delacroix and Corot.

English Romantic painter Richard Parkes Bonington had a lightness and delicacy of tone in both watercolor and oil painting was unlike anything his contemporaries had seen before. Angus Trumble, the Senior Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at Yale's Center for British Art reviews Bonington's unique approach to painting.

Associate Organ Curator at Yale Joseph Dzeda provides us an inside look at one of the world’s largest musical instruments, the mighty 12,617-pipe Newberry Memorial Organ in Woolsey Hall.

A stunning example of the Queen Anne style of American furniture design is the focus of this segment of "Treasures." John Stewart Gordon, assistant curator of American Decorative Arts at the Yale University Art Gallery, points out the craftsmanship of a beautifully carved black walnut armchair that "exude restrained opulence."

There are only 14 painting remaining by American artist - and Yale graduate - Gerald Murphy, who had a brief career as a Cubist painter when he was living on the French Riviera during the 1920's. This segment of "Treasures of Yale" provides an informative tour of Murphy's painting of his father's library by Helen Cooper, Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture at the Yale University Art Gallery.

The hopes of the Roman Empire near its peak would soon rest on the narrow shoulders of Commodus, the only male child of Emperor Marcus Aurelius to escape an early death. This marble sculpture, carved by an unknown artist around 173AD, depicts Commodus as an innocent boy of about 11 - with no hint that he would become a tyrannical emperor who was assassinated 20 years later.

An introduction to the Yale Carillon by Ellen Dickinson of the Yale School of Music who is the faculty advisor to the Yale Guild of Carilloneurs - a student group which plays the Yale Carillon in Harkness Tower twice a day during the school year.

A short overview of an 18th century painting by British artist Arthur Devis, presented by Angus Trumble, Senior Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at the Yale Center for British Art.

A brief overview of an 18th century "country house painting" entitled Bifrons Park, Kent - by Jennifer Kowitt, Postgraduate Research Associate at the Yale Center for British Art.