Adam Rose ’81 and his husband Peter McQuillan have embarked on a mission to ensure their extensive art collection finds a lasting home in Yale’s collections. This endeavor is driven by a deep-seated passion for art and a profound commitment to the preservation of cultural heritage.
While Rose and McQuillan have been collecting art for decades, the journey that brought that art to Yale started at Rose’s 35th Yale College reunion in 2016. While back on campus, the couple learned about the opportunity to audit classes. McQuillan signed up for a course on American silver taught by John Stuart Gordon, Benjamin Attmore Hewitt Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG).
“He would come home beaming after every class,” Rose says. “He got so much out of the experience that it made me want to connect with the art gallery, too.”
Soon, Rose was on the gallery’s board, working to establish a patron’s program and supporting scholarships at the School of Art.
“The people at the gallery are truly the warmest, smartest, and kindest group of people we have ever encountered at a nonprofit,” Rose says. “I am so proud to support their work.”
Rose and McQuillan have been collecting art for decades, amassing a diverse collection ranging from Hudson River paintings to modern sculpture. Their approach was simple: they bought what they loved, becoming accidental custodians of an art collection that now spans various styles and mediums.
Upon learning about the collection, Yale curators were keen to incorporate these works of art into the gallery’s offerings, and Rose and McQuillan were excited to give these objects a new life.
“When we give art to the gallery, we know that it will be protected, documented, researched, and accessible for generations of students and art enthusiasts,” Rose says. “Giving art to an institution that has education at the forefront of its mission means that these pieces will be hung and viewed and studied, which is so much more rewarding than selling art to a collector as an investment piece to hide away in a private collection.”
Last year, they gifted two major pieces–an Anish Kapoor sculpture to the Center for British Art and a Carlos Cruz-Diez painting to the Art Gallery. This year, they have added three Hudson River paintings to the collection, along with a 19th-century silver and crystal pitcher which was owned by Rose’s maternal grandmother and represents important Rhode Island craftsmanship.
“We hope that all of our art will eventually belong to Yale,” Rose says. “We have a lot of pieces from younger, underrepresented artists whose work will enhance the diversity of Yale’s collections. It means the world to us to know these works will be celebrated and engaged with in perpetuity.”