'CLARK INSPIRED' LECTURE SERIES CONTINUES WITH "A FRANCO-AMERICAN ODYSSEY: ONE CURATOR'S PERSPECTIVE"

For Immediate Release

August 8, 2014

[Digital image available upon request]

Williamstown, MA—Olivier Meslay, associate director for curatorial affairs at the Dallas Museum of Art, presents the free lecture “A Franco-American Odyssey: One Curator’s Perspective” on Saturday, August 16 at 3 pm.

Meslay’s talk is part of the “Clark Inspired” series presented this summer, featuring leading scholars and museum professionals who share a distinctive bond forged in Williamstown and at the Clark.

He will speak about the unique scholarly and social environment at the Clark and in Williamstown, which he and his wife, Laure de Margerie, first explored as Fellows, and which led to his returning with his family to the Clark regularly. Meslay will also draw on his professional experiences to consider the working differences between European and American museums.

Meslay studied at the Sorbonne and the École du Louvre, and is a 1993 graduate of the National Heritage Institute. After serving for many years as a curator of American, British, and Spanish art at the Musée du Louvre, Meslay moved to the United States in 2009 to take the position of senior curator of European and American Art and the Barbara Thomas Lemmon Curator of European Art at the Dallas Museum of Art. He became acting head of the museum in 2011 and assumed his current position in 2012. Meslay has written numerous articles on the artistic relationship between Britain and France, and he has directed several exhibitions on the same topic.

The lecture will be held in the Clark’s auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.

ABOUT THE CLARK

The Clark Art Institute is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, open to the public with more than 240,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.

The Clark opened its expanded facilities on July 4, 2014, unveiling new and enhanced spaces that accommodate the continued growth of the Institute’s programs. Included in this final stage of the project are the new 42,600-square-foot Clark Center designed by Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, expansion and renovation of the original Museum Building and the ongoing renovation of the Manton Research Center by Selldorf Architects, and a sweeping redesign of the grounds by Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture. The first phase of the campus expansion project was completed in 2008 with the opening of the Lunder Center at Stone Hill, a striking conservation and exhibitions facility also designed by Tadao Ando.

The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Opening season hours: Galleries open daily from July 4 through October 13, 2014, 10 am to 5 pm (Tuesdays until 6 pm and Fridays until 7 pm in July and August). From October 14, 2014 through June 30, 2015: Galleries open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $20 through October 31, 2014 and free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. For more information, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.

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