ARTIST MOLLY HATCH VISITS THE CLARK FOR EVENTS CELEBRATING PUBLICATION OF NEW BOOK ON THE INSTITUTE’S TEACUP COLLECTION
For Immediate Release
March 17, 2015
[Digital images available upon request]
Williamstown, Massachusetts––A series of events celebrating the publication of a new book based on holdings in the Clark Art Institute’s ceramic decorative arts collection, A Teacup Collection: Paintings of Porcelain Treasures, will take place at the Clark on Sunday, April 19 featuring the book’s author and illustrator, Molly Hatch.
At 1:30 pm, the Clark will host a special tea event in Café 7 in the Clark Center, offering a selection of teas, savories, and sweets. In addition to the tea service, Hatch and representatives from Harney & Sons Fine Teas will make a presentation on tea traditions. Tickets are $25 ($23 members). To reserve, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 0524.
Following the tea at 3 pm, an author’s book talk will be held in the Clark Center, West Pavilion. Sylvia and Leonard Marx Director of Collections Kathleen Morris, who wrote the forward for Hatch’s book, joins the artist to discuss how the teacups in the Clark’s collection inspired her to create the series of watercolor paintings featured in her new book. Assembled with great enthusiasm by Sterling Clark, the Clark’s 300-piece holding dates back to the eighteenth century and includes coveted designs from Europe and China. Hatch, who was given exclusive access to the largely unviewed collection, studied the details of each cup and the related curatorial records to create original watercolors of more than 100 teacups.
A book signing after the conversation will be held in the Museum Store, which will offer a wide selection of Hatch’s ceramic wares for sale, as well as many of her original watercolor paintings of the Clark’s teacups. In addition, the Museum Store will present a special selection of custom mugs, featuring Hatch’s artwork and produced exclusively for the Clark.
ABOUT MOLLY HATCH
Molly Hatch, the daughter of a painter and an organic dairy farmer, uses her imagination and love of drawing to make everything from idiosyncratic ceramics to quirky pen-and-ink drawings. Her art “creates something beautifully familiar yet disorienting” (Vogue, May 2014).
Hatch formally studied drawing, printmaking, and ceramics, receiving her BFA at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2000. After several ceramic residencies and apprenticeships in the United States and abroad, she earned her MFA in ceramics at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2008. Hatch’s career in ceramics has led to collaborations with institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as collaborations with design and industry.
Making contemporary ceramics and designing products for the home inspired by history, Hatch quickly garnered a loyal following. Her career as a ceramicist has expanded beyond exhibiting to designing everything from tableware to a wide range of lifestyle products. Hatch currently works from her studio in Florence, Massachusetts and has gallery representation with Todd Merrill Studio Contemporary in New York.
Learn more about Molly Hatch at www.mollyhatch.com or www.mollyhatchstudio.com.
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ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, 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 exhibition facility also designed by Tadao Ando.
The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $20; 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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