The Gallery was founded by portrait artist Colonel John Trumbull with the help of Professor Benjamin Silliman, a prominent chemist.

[2] In 1864, Augustus Russell Street donated funds for the establishment of a School of Fine Arts at Yale.

Yale alumnus Andrew Dickson White was petitioned by the school's faculty to become the first dean, but instead opted to be the first president of Cornell University.

While he did not attend a college or university, he studied under his father, Robert W. Weir, professor of art at the US Military Academy in West Point.

When the School of Fine Arts opened to students in 1869, it was the first of its kind affiliated with a tertiary institution in America.

As department chair, "he reimagined the [Yale] curriculum by integrating painting, sculpture, graphic arts, and architecture under the common purpose of design.

It is conferred upon recommendation of the faculty after successful completion of all course work in residence and after a faculty-approved thesis presentation.

The School of Art offers professional instruction in four interrelated areas of study: graphic design, painting/printmaking, photography, and sculpture.

The Yale Daily News reported in February 2007 that 1,215 applicants for its class of 2009 sought admission to 55 places.

The Yale Alumni Magazine reported in November 2008 that the School admitted sixty-five applicants from among 1,142 for its class of 2010, and that fifty-six enrolled (5.7% acceptance rate).

[15] In 2017 art website Artsy also ranked the school first, stating that it's "topped nearly every annual survey of the best MFA programs in the nation.

"[16] Among the list of notable artists who have graduated from Yale are graphic designers Ivan Chermayeff, Jane Davis Doggett, Alan Fletcher, Tom Geismar, Norman Ives, and Nontsikelelo Mutiti;[17] painters William Bailey, Jennifer Bartlett, Chuck Close,[18] Joan Wadleigh Curran, John Currin, Lisa Yuskavage, Isabella Doerfler, Rackstraw Downes, Janet Fish, Audrey Flack, Hilary Harkness, Robert Mangold, Brice Marden,[19] Sean Landers, Tameka Norris, Howardena Pindell,[20] Mickalene Thomas,[21] Robert Vickrey, and Kehinde Wiley;[22] photographers David Levinthal, Gail Albert Halaban, Dawoud Bey,[23] Gregory Crewdson, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Pao Houa Her, Constance Thalken, and Susan Lipper;[24] the printmaker Imna Arroyo, sculptors Ann Hamilton,[25] Eva Hesse, Nancy Graves, James Angus, Wangechi Mutu,[26] Charlotte Park[27] Martin Puryear, Jean Blackburn, Frederic Remington, Priscilla Roberts, Fred Sandback, Sula Bermúdez-Silverman and Richard Serra;[28] cartoonist Garry Trudeau; and multimedia artists Matthew Barney[29] and Alex Da Corte.