Clark Art Institute facts for kids
The Clark Art Institute
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| Established | 1955 |
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| Location | 225 South St, Williamstown, MA 01267 |
| Type | Art Museum and Research Institute |
| Accreditation | American Alliance of Museums |
| Founder | Robert Sterling Clark and Francine Clark |
| Architect | Daniel Deverell Perry, Tadao Ando, Annabelle Selldorf |
The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, often called the Clark, is an art museum and a place for research in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It has a large collection of European and American art. This includes paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photos, and decorative items from the 1300s to the early 1900s.
The Clark is one of three important art museums in the Berkshires, along with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) and the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA). It is also a center for learning and research. The Clark offers special programs like the Fellowship Program and a graduate program in art history with Williams College. It also has one of the best art libraries in the country, with over 295,000 books in more than 72 languages. About 200,000 people visit the Clark each year. It offers many fun and educational programs for all ages.
Contents
History of the Clark
The Clark was started in 1955 by Robert Sterling Clark and his wife, Francine Clark. Robert was an entrepreneur, a soldier, and a big art collector. He inherited a lot of money from his grandfather, who helped start the Singer Sewing Machine Company.
After traveling in Asia, Sterling moved to Paris in 1911 and began collecting art. Francine joined him in collecting after they got married in 1919. The Clarks usually kept their art collection private. They rarely loaned out any of their artworks.
During the Cold War, they worried about their art being safe. They wanted to protect their collection from a possible attack on New York City, where they lived. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was supposed to get their collection, was also in New York City. So, the Clarks started looking for places in the countryside of New York and Massachusetts. They wanted to build a new museum for their art there.
They visited Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1949. They talked with town leaders and people from Williams College. Sterling had family ties to the college, as his grandfather and father had been trustees. The "Robert Sterling Clark Art Institute" was officially started on March 14, 1950. It was planned to be both a museum and a place for education. In 1953, after construction began, Sterling changed the name to "the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute." He wanted to include Francine because of her "constant enthusiasm" and her help in building the collection.
The Clark opened to the public on May 17, 1955. Its first director was Peter Guille. Since then, the Clark has become a popular place for tourists, art lovers, and scholars. It has helped make the Berkshires famous for its culture.
Buildings and Design
Original Building Design
Sterling Clark wanted the museum to have lots of natural light and a classic look. He chose Daniel Perry as the architect. Perry designed a building that was similar to the Frick Collection in style, but less fancy.
The building took almost two years to build and cost nearly $3 million. It opened on May 17, 1955. It even had a private apartment where the Clark family could stay. This apartment later became Sterling Clark's last home. His ashes are buried under the museum's front steps.
New Additions
The Manton Research Center, designed by Pietro Belluschi, was finished in 1973. This building holds the library and research programs. In 2001, the Clark started a big project to improve its campus. They worked with landscape designers Reed Hilderbrand and architects Tadao Ando and Annabelle Selldorf. Hilderbrand redesigned the outdoor areas, adding new walking trails, planting 1,000 trees, and creating a reflecting pool. This pool uses recycled water.
Tadao Ando designed two new buildings: the Lunder Center at Stone Hill and the Clark Center. The Lunder Center opened in 2008. It has two art galleries and a seasonal cafe. It also houses the Williamstown Art Conservation Center, which is the largest art repair center in the country. The Clark Center, which opened in 2014, is 42,600 square feet. It has over 11,000 square feet of space for special art shows. It also has new dining areas, shops, and family spaces. A glass pavilion at the Clark Center creates a new entrance to the original museum building. The Clark Center is made of stone, concrete, and glass. It is the main building on campus and where most visitors enter.
Annabelle Selldorf was asked to update the older buildings. In the original 1955 marble building, new galleries were added for American art and decorative art. This increased the exhibition space by 15%. The Manton Research Center reopened in 2016. Its auditorium and central courtyard were updated. Several galleries and a study center were also created. This renovation finished the Clark's large expansion project.
The museum's recent $145 million expansion was paid for by private donations, grants, and state funding.
Art Collection
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How the Collection Started
At first, the Clarks collected Italian, Dutch, and Flemish Old Master paintings. Over time, they became more interested in artists like John Singer Sargent, Edgar Degas, Winslow Homer, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. After 1920, the Clarks mainly focused on French art from the 1800s. This included Impressionism and the Barbizon School. For the next 35 years, the Clarks kept adding to their private collection. They collected more paintings, porcelain, silver, prints, and drawings from the early 1300s to the early 1900s.
The museum's permanent collection has many important artworks. Works by Renoir, Rodin, George Inness, John Singer Sargent, and Jean-Léon Gérôme are very important. The Clark also has Bouguereau's famous painting Nymphs and Satyr. The museum is best known today for its French Impressionist art.
New Artworks
The Clark continues to add to its collection to better achieve its goals. Recent additions include Brutus Condemning His Sons to Death by Guillaume Guillon-Lethière. They also acquired the Landscape Album (Paysage), which has about one hundred landscape drawings, mostly by Lethière. Another new artwork is the Tea Service of Famous Women (Cabaret des femmes célèbres). This set was painted by Marie-Victoire Jaquotot. It is one of only three known sets that show portraits of famous women. These women were known for their achievements in government, writing, philosophy, and international relations.
Other new artworks include The Swearing in of President Boyer at the Palace of Haiti by Adolphe-Eugène-Gabriel Roehn. The museum also received an important gift from Frank and Katherine Martucci. This gift included early photographs of and by Black Americans, especially by Edward J. Souby and James Van Der Zee. In 2013, Frank and Katherine Martucci gave the museum eight George Inness landscape paintings. These joined two other Inness works already in the collection.
The Manton Collection of British Art
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Since it opened in 1955, the Clark Art Institute has kept growing its collection. This happens through buying new art, gifts, and bequests (art left in a will). Recently, they have focused on adding to their photography collection. In 2007, the Manton Foundation gave the museum the collection of its founders, Sir Edwin and Lady Manton. The Manton Collection of British Art has over 200 artworks by British artists. These include works by J.M.W. Turner, Thomas Gainsborough, and John Constable.
Special Art Shows
The Clark hosts special art shows throughout the year. These shows cover many different topics. From June to October 2023, the Clark had an exhibition called Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth. This was the first show in the United States to focus on how Munch used nature in his paintings to show deeper meanings. Trembling Earth featured more than 75 artworks. Many came from the Munchmuseet's collection. Over 40 paintings and prints came from private collections that are rarely seen. The Clark Art Institute, the Museum Barberini, and the Munchmuseet worked together to create this exhibition. The New York Times even named Trembling Earth one of the "Best Art of 2023."
You can find more information about current exhibitions on the museum's website.
Campus and Outdoor Areas
Nature Around the Clark
Beyond the buildings, the Clark campus has 140 acres of meadows, woods, and walking trails. Sterling and Francine Clark wanted visitors to enjoy the natural beauty of the Berkshires. In warmer months, visitors can see a large three-tiered reflecting pool. This pool was designed by landscape architect Reed Hilderbrand.
Cows at the Clark
In the warmer months, you might also see cows grazing on Stone Hill. The Clark Art Institute website says the cows are friendly but prefer not to be approached.
Project Snowshoe
In the winter, visitors can borrow snowshoes for free. This lets them explore the Clark campus and its trails in the snow.
Outdoor Art Installations
The Clark campus has several outdoor art installations. Their first big outdoor exhibition, Ground/work, was held from October 2020 to October 2021. It showed art from artists around the world, including Nairy Baghramian, Jennie C. Jones, and Haegue Yang. This exhibition turned the meadows and woods into an outdoor art gallery. It showed the Clark's growing interest in working with living and modern artists. Even though Ground/work has ended, visitors can still see various outdoor sculptures and installations for free.
Learning Programs
Research and Academic Program
The Research and Academic Program (RAP) shows the Clark's original goal to support research and learning. This program started in the late 1990s with the Clark Library and the Graduate Program in the History of Art. It has grown to work with institutions and scholars from around the world. They aim to explore and expand the study of visual arts. Caroline Fowler is the director of this program and also teaches at Williams College.
The Research and Academic Program also gives out between ten and sixteen Clark Fellowships each year. These fellowships last from four weeks to ten months. Clark Fellowships allow promising scholars, critics, and museum workers to do research without their usual work duties. Fellows, along with scholars and students from all over the world, are encouraged to join the many conferences, workshops, and seminars hosted by the program.
The Clark also publishes books like The Clark Studies in the Visual Arts. These books are based on discussions from the annual Clark Conferences. They offer a way to explore art history topics from different angles. You can also listen to the Research and Academic Program podcast, In the Foreground: Conversations on Art & Writing. This podcast offers a fun and deep look into the lives of scholars and artists who work with art history.
Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art
The Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art started in 1972. It works with the Clark. This is an intense two-year program. It combines schoolwork, internships at museums, workshops, and international study trips. Students learn from many different teachers. At the end, they earn a Master of Arts degree in art history. The program is located on the Clark Campus. It uses the art history resources of both the Clark and Williams College. Many famous people have graduated from this program. These include Sasha Suda, who is the Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and James Rondeau, who is the Director of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Clark Prize for Excellence in Arts Writing
The Clark Prize for Excellence in Arts Writing has been given out every two years since 2006. The prize "celebrates writing that is smart, clear, and easy to understand." It honors writing that helps people better understand and enjoy visual arts. The award is given for "critical or historical writing that explains complex ideas in a way that is based on research but also interesting to many different people."
In 2006, three people won the award. After that, one person was chosen each time until 2022. In 2022, there were two winners because of the pandemic. Winners of the Prize include:
- 2006: Kobena Mercer, Linda Nochlin and Calvin Tomkins
- 2008: Peter Schjeldahl
- 2010: Hal Foster
- 2012: Brian O'Doherty
- 2015: Eileen Myles
- 2017: Darcy Grimaldo Grigsby
- 2022: Hilton Als and Helen Molesworth
- 2024: Bénédicte Savoy
Library
The Clark library started in 1962. It is one of the most important art research libraries in the United States. The library has over 280,000 books and many special collections. This includes Robert Sterling Clark's collection of rare books. The materials include standard art books, scholarly journals in 65 languages from over 140 countries, exhibition catalogs, and museum publications. It also has auction catalogs and artists' books. The library is open to everyone, and it's free to visit.
Directors of the Clark
- Peter Guille (1955–1966)
- George Heard Hamilton (1966–1977)
- David Brooke (1977–1994)
- Michael Conforti (1994–2016)
- Olivier Meslay (2016–present)
Works in The Permanent Collection
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Edgar Degas, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, modeled 1879–81, cast 1919–21 [1]
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Claude Monet, Rouen Cathedral, the Façade in Sunlight, c. 1892–94, oil on canvas. Acquired in memory of Anne Strang Baxter [2]
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Mary Cassatt, Offering the Panal to the Bullfighter, 1873 [3]
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James Van Der Zee, Wedding Day, Harlem, 1926, printed 1974, gelatin silver print. Gift of Frank and Katherine Martucci [4]
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Erich Heckel, Portrait of a Man, 1918, color woodcut, over zincograph, in green, blue, ochre and black on paper [5]
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Piero della Francesca, Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels, c. 1460–70 [6]
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Winslow Homer, West Point, Prout's Neck, 1900, oil on canvas [7]
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Jean-Léon Gérôme, Snake Charmer, c. 1879, oil on canvas [8]
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Claude Monet, The Cliffs at Étretat, 1885 [9]
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George Inness, Home at Montclair, 1892, oil on canvas [10]
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand) to Warn Steamboats of Shoal Water, 1840, oil on canvas [11]
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Frederic Remington, Dismounted: The Fourth Troopers Moving the Led Horses, 1890, oil on canvas.
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Alfred Stieglitz, The Terminal, 1893; printed c. 1910, gift of Penelope Tyson Adams in memory of husband, John Barclay Adams [12]
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Images for kids
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Marble facade of the 1955 Daniel Perry-designed building.
See also
In Spanish: Instituto de Arte Clark para niños
