The Clark Brothers Collect; Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings

by Michael Conforti, James A. Ganz, Neil Harris, Sarah Lees, and Gilbert T. Vincent; With additional contributions by Daniel Cohen-McFall, Mari Yoko Hara, SusannahMaurer, Kathleen M. Morris, Kathryn Price, Richard Rand, and Marc Simpson

• ISBN13: 9780300116199
• ISBN10: 0300116195
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2006-07-24
• Publisher: Clark Art Institute

Summary

Brothers Sterling and Stephen Clarkheirs to the Singer sewing machine fortunewere among the twentieth century's most influential art collectors. This volume examines their magnificent collections, their personal lives and public profiles, and their significant roles in the history of American museums. While the brothers shared a love for great art, they collected in different ways. Sterling was a private collector; his French Impressionist masterpieces, including thirty-eight Renoirs, and works by such American artists as Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Frederic Remington, and Mary Cassatt now form the distinguished collection of the Clark. Stephen, a businessman and museum trustee, acquired modern works by such masters as Georges Seurat, Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh, often with specific museum collections in mindincluding The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Yale University Art Gallery. Handsomely produced, this book features over two hundred illustrations of the works from Sterling's and Stephen's collections. It also includes essays by distinguished scholars, an illustrated chronology, and a previously unpublished checklist of works purchased by Stephen Clark.

Author Biography

Michael Conforti is director and James A. Ganz is curator of prints, drawings, and photographs at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; Neil Harris is an independent historian; and Gilbert T. Vincent is former director of the New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown.

Table of Contents

Lenders to the Exhibition	vi
Directors' Foreword	vii
Preface and Acknowledgments	viii
THE COLLECTORS AND THEIR LEGACIES
The Clark Brothers: An Introduction	3	(32)
Michael Conforti
From Paris to Williamstown: Robert Sterling Clark's Life as a Collector	35	(88)
James A. Ganz
A Life with Art: Stephen Carlton Clark as Collector and Philanthropist	123	(78)
Gilbert T. Vincent
Sarah Lees
The Clark Brothers and American Philanthropy	201	(32)
Neil Harris
THE COLLECTORS AND THE ARTISTS
Sterling and Stephen Clark as Collectors of Winslow Homer	233	(12)
Marc Simpson
Stephen Clark and Paul Cezanne	245	(8)
Sarah Lees
Sterling and Stephen Clark as Collectors of Pierre-Auguste Renoir	253	(12)
Richard Rand
Sterling and Stephen Clark as Collectors of John Singer Sargent	265	(8)
Marc Simpson
Stephen Clark and Henri Matisse	273	(10)
Sarah Lees
Stephen Clark and Edward Hopper	283	(10)
Sarah Lees
DOCUMENTATION
Chronology	293	(21)
Daniel Cohen-Mcfall
Mari Yoko Hara
Sarah Lees
Stephen C. and Susan V. Clark's Gifts and Bequests to Public Institutions	314	(3)
Sarah Lees
List of Works Owned by Stephen Carlton Clark	317	(32)
Sarah Lees
Partial List of Works Owned by Robert Sterling Clark	349	(7)
Mari Yoko Hara
Kathryn Price
Selected Bibliography	356	(2)
Index	358