On the wall of Pierson dining hall hangs a portrait of former Head, Professor Harvey Goldblatt. It is about 3 by 5 feet and painted in oil by Italian artist Gabriele Vicari in 2005. First, I find it incredibly odd that, in a university that tends to support its own artist graduates or at least American artists with some ties to the area, Pierson College chose an Italian artist to create a work to be placed in such a central area of the college.
Beyond the artist, the painting itself seems to me a bit distant or maybe separated from us, emphasized by the incredible dullness of the colors and the extremely academic atmosphere of the lone white man with a thick book displaying Latin writing, a pen and ink. Professor Goldblatt himself has a haughty expression on his face, while looking down on us from a few feet above. If you combine his attitude with the writing in the book in front of him, Pierson College seems to represent the values of superiority and unflinching pride rather than a place of togetherness and family.
The text reads: “Pierson College is not a place made of bricks and stone and mortar, but a state of mind, a great place to live, a family an eternal flame that you always carry with you wherever you go. Pierson the College that dares to be all it can be!”
The vague outline of the Pierson Tower in the otherwise solid grey background seems quite odd and eerily ghostly to me as well, and, together with the rest of the piece, leaves this portrait feeling off-putting and unapproachable.
I like that you pointed out how his haughty expression, connection to obscure Latin texts, and physical position in the room as above us all scream exclusive elitism, rather than the approachability and humility. I also find it inexcusable that this was painted in 2005. I understand Yale’s historical position of upper-class exclusivity but would hope that the administration would try to counter this perception in the art that it commissions.