History of the School
The study of the visual arts at Yale had its beginning with the opening, in 1832, of the Trumbull Gallery,one of the earliest art museums in the Anglo-Saxon world and the first (and long the only one) connected with a college in this country. It was founded by patriot-artist, Colonel John Trumbull, one-time aide-de-camp to General Washington, with the help of Professor Benjamin Silliman, the celebrated scientist. A singularly successful art exhibition held in 1858 under the direction of the College Librarian, Daniel Coit Gilmen, led to the establishment of an Art School in 1864, through the generosity of Augustus Russell Street. The new educational program was placed in the hands of an Art Council, one of whose members was the painter-inventor Samuel F.B. Morse, a graduate of Yale College. When the School opened in 1869, it was the first connected with an institution of higher learning in the country, and classes in drawing, painting, sculpture, and art history were inaugurated. The art collections in the old Trumbull Gallery were moved into a building endowed by Augustus Street and so named Street Hall, and were greatly augmented by the acquisition of the Jarves Collection of early Italian paintings in 1871.
Architectural instruction was begun in 1908, though not developed into major proportions until 1923. Drama, with its own seperate building, was added in 1925 and continued to function as a department of the School until it became an independent School in 1955. In 1928 a new Art Gallery, connected to Street Hall by a bridge above High Street, was opened and Street Hall was used for instruction in art. The work in architecture continued to be carried on in Weir Hall. A large addition to the Art Gallery, designed by Louis I. Kahn, was opened in 1953. Several floors were used by the School until the rapidly expanding Gallery collections required their use. In 1963 the new Art and Architecture Building, designed by Paul Rudolph, was opened. In 1972 two schools were established by the President and Fellows, the School of Art and the School of Architecture, which now share the Rudolph building for most of their activities. The Sculpture department is housed in Hammond Hall, and Graphic Design is located at 212 York Street. Street Hall is assigned to the University department of the History of Art. The arts at Yale -- architecture, art, the Art Gallery, the Yale Center for British Art, the history of art, the School of Drama, and the Repertory Theatre -- now occupy a group of buildings stretching along and near Chapel Street for nearly three blocks.
Graphic Design
The graphic design program admits eighteen students each year. They share design studios with related workshops and facilities for photography, letterpress typography, photo-typography, computer-aided typography, drawing, printmaking, and bookbinding. Each student has a faculty adviser, but the entire faculty is available to all students for criticism. Class studies involve theoretical studies, work on applied problems, and individual projects. All design students without previous experience in photography are required to take at least one course in photography.
Selected Faculty
Sheila Levrant de Bretteville Graphic Designer
Ms. de Bretteville (b. 1940) is currently Director of Graduate Studies in Graphic Design. She has used her graphic skills in nontraditional projects dealing with community issues and women in society. De Bretteville received her B.A. in art history from Barard College, New York, in 1962 and her M.F.A. from Yale University School of Art in 1964. In 1971 she created the first woman's design program at the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, and in 1973 founded the Woman's Building, Los Angeles. Since 1981 she has chaired the department of communication design and illustration at Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design, Los Angeles. She also maintains a design studio in Los Angeles and has numbered among her clients Warner Bros. Records, 'American Cinematographer' magazine, and the 'Los Angeles Times.' Her publication designs include 'Chrysalis', a quarterly magazine of women's culture (1977-1979) and the periodical 'Art Coast: Comtemporary Art West and East' (1989).
Alvin Eisenman Graphic Designer
Mr. Eisenman (b. 1921) began work as a book designer in New York and later came to New Haven to teach graphic design at the then Yale School of Design, and also to serve as typographer of the Yale University Press. He has been a consultant to J.P. Morgan and Company, the European American Bank, and the United States Information Agency. He served three terms as president of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, and is currently Corresponding Professor at the Royal College of Art in London. He was educated at Dartmouth College, receiving an AB degree in Graphic Arts in 1943. Mr. Eisenman was appointed Street Professor of Painting and Design at the Yale School of Art in 1961, and is the Director of Graduate Studies in Graphic Design. (currently retired from Yale)
Armin Hofmann Graphic Designer
Mr. Hoffmann (b. 1920) began teaching graphic design in 1947 at the Kunstgewerbeschule in
Basel, Switzerland. He became director of the undergraduate program at that school in 1967
and in 1968 initiated the advanced class. Mr. Hofmann has taught and lectured at universities and design conferences throughout the United States and Europe. In 1965, his 'Graphic Design Manual' was published and in 1989 'Armin Hofmann, His Work, Quest, and
Philosophy'. Mr. Hofmann's association with Yale began in 1956. Since 1966, he has
conducted an annual seminar in the graduate program and was appointed Visiting Professor
in 1970. Mr. Hofmann is Director of Yale Summer Program in Graphic Design in Brissago,
Switzerland. His professional career has included symbol, book, letterform, and exhibition
design as wellas projects done in collaboration with many architects. In 1981, a retrospective of Mr. Hofmann's posters was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. (currently retired from Yale)
Paul Rand Graphic Designer
Mr. Rand (1914-1996) studied at Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, and the Art Students' League under George Grosz. At age twenty-three, he became art director of 'Esquire/Apparel Arts' and subsequently spent thirteen years as creative director of a New York advertising agency. Since 1956, he has been a consultant to IBM, Cummings Engine Company and,for many years, Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Among his awards are: Doctor of Fine Arts (Hon) from Philadelphia College of Art; Royal Designer for Industry, the Royal Society of Arts, London; the Hall of Fame of the New York Art Directors Club; the gold medal of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. He is an honorary professor of Tama University, Tokyo. Mr. Rand's work is in the permanent collections of many museums in th eUnited States, Europe, and Japan. He is the author of 'Thoughts on Design, Design and the Play Instinct, The Trademarks of Paul Rand, A Paul Rand Miscellany, Paul Rand: A Designer's Art, Paul Rand Design Form and Chaos', and 'From Lascaux to Brooklyn, Paul Rand', as well as numerous papers on design, art, and typography. A book on his work from 1946-58 was published by Knopf, New York and Zokeisha, Tokyo. Mr. Rand has taught at Yale in the Graphic Design Program since 1956 and in Brissago, Switzerland since 1977. |
