By now you know that in addition to visiting National Parks and camping, we also enjoy visiting unique and interesting art installations. We travelled to The Clark Art Institute Museum specifically to see their outdoor exhibit Ground/Work2025, which Sue had read about prior to our trip. What we discovered is that The Clark is so much more…
Robert Sterling Clark was an heir to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune. After graduating from Yale in 1899, he served in the US Army and then moved to France in 1910. While living in France, he met his future wife, Francine Clary. They married in 1919.
Both Sterling and Francine were passionate collectors of art. With the fortune Sterling inherited from his grandfather, a partner of Isaac Singer, he and Francine were able to amass an amazing personal collection of art. They collected works from Edgar Degas, John Singer Sargent, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Winslow Homer and numerous other 19th-Century Impressionist and Barbizon School paintings. Their art collection was rarely circulated and most of it remained in storage.
The Clark Art Institute was charted in 1950, in association with Williams College. The Institute, located in Williamstown, Massachusetts had two purposes: to establish a museum (The Clark) to display Sterling and Francine’s personal art collection and to establish an educational institution with Williams College.
The original building has a marble exterior and classical design. In the photo above we are looking at what was the original entrance. The building included an apartment for Sterling and Francine where they lived for the remainder of their lives. The museum was completed in 1955, just a year before Sterling died at age 79. Sterling’s ashes are interred under the front steps above. Francine died in 1960.
The art collection is breathtaking. Imagine walking into a gallery with 20 Renoir paintings on a single wall. The Clarks have thirty-two in their private collection! The experience of seeing so many works by Renoir was extraordinary. Although not on the same scale, the Clarks owned numerous works by Degas and Monet.
We were also very excited to see the Ground/Work2025 exhibit. The Clark Institute is located on 140 acres of lawns, fields and walking trails. The Institute commissioned six artists to create new works that would be in “active dialogue ” with nature throughout the campus. Some of the works will be allowed to decay in place. Here are our three favorites.
Sterling and Francine’s massive art collection, located in such a beautiful and bucolic location, is a must-see for anyone interested in art. There is so much to enjoy at The Clark that one could easily spend a full day or even two taking everything in.
If you travel by RV, you should know that The Clark does not have dedicated RV parking. We were directed by the staff to a lot designated for electric vehicle charging. You may want to inquire about parking ahead of time, especially if you are towing, or in an RV longer than 23 feet.
Thank you, as always, for following along.
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