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Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute | |
| This superb art museum is the most famous and worthy of Williamstown's cultural attractions. | ||
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The marvelous collections of the Clark Art Institute are the achievement of Robert Sterling Clark (1877-1956), a Yale engineer whose forebears had been successful in the sewing machine industry. Clark began collecting works of art in Paris in 1912, married a French woman named Francine, and eventually housed his masterpieces in a classic white marble temple here in Williamstown (map). The pristine original museum was greatly expanded in 1973, and now has strong collections of paintings by the Impressionists, their academic contemporaries in France, and the mid-century Barbizon artists, including Millet, Troyon, and Corot. Of the Americans, there are significant works by Cassatt, Homer, Remington, and Sargent. Earlier centuries are represented by well-chosen pieces of Piero della Francesca, Memling, Gossaert, Jacob van Ruisdael, Fragonard, Gainsborough, Turner, and Goya. There are some sculptures, including Degas' famous Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, as well as prints, drawings, and noteworthy collections of silver and porcelain. Admission is free. The Clark Art Institute is open 10 am to 5 pm (closed Monday, January 1, Thanksgiving Day and December 25). Here's full info on hours and admissions. From the Visitors Center at the intersection of US 7 and MA 2 in the center of Williamstown, loop around the park and follow South Street for less than a mile (1 km) to the museum. For more info, see the museum website. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Williams College Museum of Art |
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The new building (1973) of
the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown MA.
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