Meant to Be Shared features nearly two hundred 18th- to 20th-century Italian, French and Spanish prints. These works were avidly collected by philanthropist Arthur Ross (1910 – 2007), given to Yale University Art Gallery in 2012 and subsequently organized for this exhibition. Ross frequently lent to museums, especially those on academic campuses. In the spirit of the collector, Meant to Be Shared travels to the Harn Museum and Syracuse University Art Gallery.
Highlights of Meant to Be Shared include entire series of works by Francisco Goya, views of 18th-century and ancient Rome by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Eugène Delacroix’s illustrations of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” and Édouard Manet’s illustrations of Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem “The Raven.” Other artists represented in the exhibition include Honoré Daumier, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne and Pablo Picasso.
Meant to Be Shared: Selections from the Arthur Ross Collection of European Prints at the Yale University Art Gallery is organized by the Yale University Art Gallery. The exhibition is made possible by the Arthur Ross Foundation with local support from the Harn Program Endowment Fund, Visit Florida, Robert and Carolyn Thoburn, Yale alumni Donald Caton with his wife Cecilia, Roy Hunt, Consuelo Soldevila-Pico and an anonymous donor.