The Yale Center for British Art’s Archives is the official repository for all historical documentation of the museum, recording its development from its inception in the mid-1960s to the present.
The holdings include information on past exhibitions, publications, programs, and events, as well as the art collections, and the Louis Kahn building and its subsequent renovations and conservation. The Archives also holds collections pertaining to the life and collecting of Paul Mellon, and organizations and individuals affiliated with the Yale Center for British Art, past and present.
Long Gallery, May 1983, photo by T. Charles Erickson, Yale University Office of Public Information
Access
Archives at Yale provides detailed descriptions of the department’s archival collections, along with other archival collections at Yale.
Effective August 1, 2024, access to the Archives in the Study Room will be unavailable through the end of 2024.
Please note that records in the Archives are opened to researchers as soon as possible. However, access to some records may be restricted due to statutes, personal privacy rights, institutional proprietary rights, agreements between the Archives and transferring offices or donors, or because the records have not been processed and prepared for use.
Jules Prown and Paul Mellon on site, April 11, 1974, photo by William B. Carter, Yale Office of Public Information
Featured Works
Long Gallery, May 1983, photo by T. Charles Erickson, Yale University Office of Public Information, Collection Archives, Yale Center for British Art
Paul Mellon with Guests at Yale Center for British Art Opening Reception, April 1977
Yale Daily News special edition, April 19, 1977
Jules David Prown and Paul Mellon on site, April 11, 1974
Louis I. Kahn drawing of skylight diffuser details for Yale Center for British Art, by Pellechia and Meyers Architects, 1975
Correspondence, John Baskett to Paul Mellon, 1968
Explore the YCBA’s Collections
Over 100,000 records from the Paintings and Sculpture, Prints and Drawings, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Reference Library, and Archives collections are searchable online, along with nearly all of the Yale Center for British Art's historic frames.
Philippe Mercier, The Sense of Sight (detail), 1744 to 1747
Contact the Archives at ycba.institutionalarchives@yale.edu | +1 203 432 8395.
