Architect's rendering of the Jeffrey Loria Center for the History of Art by Charles Gwathmey, adjacent to the Paul Rudolph Art & Architecture building to the left.

Major Gift to Fund New Home for History of Art Center at Yale University

Gift is latest in a series of donations from Jeffrey Loria

A generous gift from Jeffrey H. Loria ’62, noted collector and twentieth-century art dealer, will fund construction of a new building to house Yale’s Department of the History of Art.  Loria is also the owner of the Florida Marlins Major League Baseball Team, which won the 2003 World Series.

Designed by prominent architect Charles Gwathmey ’62 M.Arch., the building will be adjacent to Yale’s Art + Architecture Building,  a modernist landmark designed by Paul Rudolph and erected in 1963.  The project, which also includes a restoration of the A+A building as well as a new Arts Library, is an integral part of Yale’s Arts Area Plan, a $500 million program of renovation and new construction for the University’s fine arts schools, departments, and collections.

“The visual arts enrich the human spirit in a way that words alone cannot,” said Yale President Richard C. Levin.  “Thanks to Jeffrey Loria’s generosity, and the passion for art that was kindled during his years as a student in Yale College, we will soon have a beautiful facility to inspire scholars and students who study the history of art.”

The building will be known as the Jeffrey Loria Center for the History of Art.

Loria said that when he first came to Yale, he was set on being a pre-med student.  Then he discovered art history.  “I give a tremendous amount of credit to the University for guiding me in life and the passions that I have had about art.  The courses that I took, whether with Vincent Scully in art and architecture or with George Hamilton in modern art, inspired me,” he said.  “They opened my eyes to things I had never seen.  The major in Art History was the foundation for my career.”

The Jeffrey Loria Center for the History of Art is his effort to give back, Loria said.  “Yale was one of the reasons I have been so fortunate in my life.  It’s a genuine pleasure to be able to give back to the University.”

Loria has long been a generous benefactor of the University, donating many prominent works of art to its collections, most notably, Roy Lichtenstein’s Modern Head, a 30-foot sculpture standing at the foot of Yale’s science campus.  The sculpture was installed in 1994 to celebrate President Levin’s inauguration.

Architect Charles Gwathmey of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects in New York is renowned for the restoration and expansion of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City.  Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects also designed the Astor Place Tower in Manhattan’s East Village, The Museum of Contemporary Art of North Miami, Florida, and the Science, Industry and Business Library of the New York Public Library.

Gwathmey received his Master of Architecture degree in 1962 from Yale, where he won both The William Wirt Winchester Fellowship as the outstanding graduate and a Fulbright Grant.  He is a recipient of the Brunner Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1970 and was elected to the Academy in 1976.  In 1985 he received the first Yale Alumni Arts Award from the Yale School of Architecture.  He was Davenport Professor (1983 and 1999) and Bishop Professor (1991) at Yale.

Construction on the Loria Center began in July 2006 and is scheduled to be completed by July of 2008.  Once complete, the Jeffrey Loria Center for the History of Art will ensure that Yale’s History of Art Department has facilities that are commensurate with the excellence and importance of the program itself.