Article by Dave Read.

The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, which is widely known as simply The Clark, opened in Williamstown, Mass. in the midst of the Cold War in 1955, where the founders hoped that their remarkable collection of Old Masters, Impressionist, and Barbizon school paintings would be safer from Soviet missiles than in New York where the Clarks had been ammassing their private collection for forty years. Sterling Clark was an heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune and had ties to Williamstown because his father and grandfather had been Williams College trustees.

In 2008, the Clark added significant exhibition space and a conservation studio with the opening of the Stone Hill Center, designed by Tadao Ando. Today, The Clark’s schedule of public exhibitions makes it one of the most popular venues in the Berkshires and its research center attracts top academics and students from around the world.

Clark Art schedules Romantic Nature: British and French Landscapes – through Sept. 20, 2011

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute contact info

• 225 South Street
• Williamstown, MA 01267
• 413-458-2303
• web: clarkart.edu

Clark Art Institute driving directions

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