FREE PUBLIC LECTURE MARKS OPENING OF DECORATIVE ARTS GALLERY AT CLARK ART INSTITUTE
February 6, 2017
Williamstown, Massachusetts—“Planning the Burrows Gallery of American Decorative Arts,” a free public lecture, will be held at the Clark Art Institute on Sunday, February 19 at 11:30 am in the auditorium. The talk celebrates the new Henry Morris and Elizabeth H. Burrows Gallery, located in the Manton Research Center, which opens the same day at 10 am.
Kathleen Morris, Sylvia & Leonard Marx Director of Collections and Exhibitions and curator of decorative arts, and Alexis Goodin, curatorial research associate, give a behind-the-scenes look into planning the new decorative arts gallery—an installation more than six years in the making. Their conversation highlights discoveries made while researching silver, furniture, and other objects in the Clark’s collection, and they address why they chose to explore particular themes when grouping objects together for display. The talk gives insight into curatorial, aesthetic, and practical aspects of planning such an installation.
The Henry Morris and Elizabeth H. Burrows Gallery features the Clark’s collection of early American decorative arts and painting. Central to the installation is the Burrows Collection of American Silver, which consists of more than 340 objects including tea and coffee wares, tankards and porringers, objects for personal adornment, church silver, and presentation pieces. The gallery also features furniture from the Florence Cluett Chambers collection, a partial Chinese export porcelain dining service made to memorialize George Washington, and paintings by Gilbert Stuart, Ammi Phillips, and others. The gallery features many objects never before on view, as well as a number of loans from private collections and foundations.
The installation of the Henry Morris and Elizabeth H. Burrows Gallery is supported by a grant from The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc.
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, consisting of more than 270,000 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 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.
Press contact:
Clark Art Institute
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413 458 0471