Francis P. Garvan’s Great Panorama: Collecting for the Nation
John Stuart Gordon, Yale University Art Gallery
Myer Myers (American, 1723–1795), Dish Ring, New York, 1770–76. Silver. Yale University Art Gallery, Mabel Brady Garvan Collection
Sideboard, Charleston, South Carolina, 1790–1810. Mahogany, mahogany veneer with light- and dark-wood inlays, red gum or black gum, yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, southern red cedar, and eastern white pine. Yale University Art Gallery, Mabel Brady Garvan Collection
Portrait of Francis P. Garvan (1875-1937) | Yale University Art
Pitcher, probably New Jersey, about 1853. Earthenware with Rockingham glaze. Yale University Art Gallery, Mabel Brady Garvan Collection
Between 1915 and 1937, lawyer and philanthropist Francis P. Garvan collected American furniture, decorative arts, prints, and paintings that celebrated the richness of the nation’s heritage. He saw his collection as forming “a great panorama of American arts and crafts” that could educate and inspire citizens across the country. To this end, Garvan lent objects to a broad range of educational and cultural institutions, before ultimately donating the collection to the Yale University Art Gallery. This talk shares highlights from the collection and anecdotes from the archives to explore how Garvan’s personal history and his political endeavors influenced his view of the importance of art within American culture.
