‘FIRST SUNDAY FREE’ AT CLARK ART INSTITUTE OFFERS FREE ADMISSION, ACTIVITIES

January 22, 2018

Williamstown, Massachusetts—Spend the day on Sunday, February 4 at the Clark Art Institute and celebrate the opening of the special exhibition, Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection. As part of the Clark’s “First Sundays Free” program, which takes place on the first Sunday of each month through May, admission to the galleries is free all day (10 am–5 pm). This program is supported by funding from the officers and employees of Allen & Company, Inc.

From 1–4 pm, enjoy special drawing stations in the Clark Center's lower lobby, where you can try your hand at creating artwork inspired by the exhibition. Also starting at 1 pm, binge on art with a series of twenty-minute gallery talks by graduate students in the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art. Each talk focuses on one work or section in the show. Speakers and topics include:

· Kathryn Griffith: Sixteenth-century Italian drawings
· Elissa Watters: Seventeenth-century Dutch drawings
· Laura Varela: Francisco Goya
· Michael Hartman: François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard
· Nora Rosengarten: Honoré Daumier
· Jessica Rosenthal: Odilon Redon
· Kristie Couser (curatorial assistant): Paul Cézanne
· Jacob Gagne: Paul Klee

Drawn to Greatness highlights 150 exceptional drawings from the Eugene V. Thaw Collection. Assembled over the last fifty years, it is one of the world’s finest private collections of drawings. Artists represented in the exhibition include Rembrandt van Rijn, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, Jean-Antoine Watteau, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Joseph Mallord William Turner, William Blake, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, Paul Gauguin, and Paul Cézanne, among others, covering a time span of five centuries.

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. Free admission is available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; EBT Card to Culture; Museums for All; Bank of America Museums on Us; and Blue Star. For more information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.

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