‘Hail to the Queen!’ at Yale’s British Art Center

Great Britain is celebrating 60 years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign this June, and the University’s own little piece of the realm, the Yale Center for British Art, is joining the celebration.

The center will mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on Tuesday, June 5, with a day-long display and a chance to enjoy a virtual front-row seat at one of Britain’s official celebrations.

Approximately 15 works related to the Queen’s coronation and those of other British monarchs will be on view in the second-floor Study Room from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A portrait of Her Majesty by Andrew Logan, on loan from a private collection, has been installed in the entrance court.

The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, a floating parade of approximately 1,000 vessels — part of the series of celebrations taking place in the United Kingdom — will be screened in the center’s lecture hall from noon to 4 p.m. (The actual pageant takes place in London on June 3.) Tea and cake will also be served in the entrance court from noon to 4 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to wear a hat or fascinator and join the celebration.

Created through a gift by alumnus Paul Mellon, the Yale Center for British Art houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. The collections reflect the development of British art, life, and thought from the Elizabethan period onward.

The center offers a year-round schedule of exhibitions and educational programs, as well as numerous academic resources. It’s been said that one of the museum’s greatest treasures is the building itself. Opened in 1977, the center was designed by internationally acclaimed American architect Louis I. Kahn.