For Immediate Release
May 14, 2024
CLARK ART INSTITUTE HOSTS OPENING RECEPTION AND LECTURE FOR GUILLAUME LETHIÈRE EXHIBITION
Williamstown, Massachusetts—On Friday, June 14, from 7:30 to 9:00 pm, the Clark Art Institute celebrates the opening of Guillaume Lethière with a free community-wide celebration, offering guests an opportunity to preview its newest exhibition. On Saturday, June 15, at 11 am, exhibition co-curators Esther Bell, deputy director and Robert and Martha Berman Lipp Chief Curator, and Olivier Meslay, Hardymon Director, introduce Guillaume Lethière and provide an inside look at the development of this ambitious exhibition.
OPENING RECEPTION
June 14, 7:30–9 pm
Clark Center
Join in a community-wide celebration, enjoy light refreshments, and be among the first to view the Clark’s major summer exhibition, Guillaume Lethière. Through more than 100 paintings, drawings, and sculpture, the Clark tells the remarkable story of Guillaume Lethière’s rise to the heights of the art world and of the remarkable role the gifted artist and teacher played in French history.
Free. Advance registration required at clarkart.edu/events or call 413 458 0524.
OPENING LECTURE
June 15, 11 am–12 pm
Auditorium
Exhibition co-curators Esther Bell, deputy director and Robert and Martha Berman Lipp Chief Curator, and Olivier Meslay, Hardymon Director, introduce Guillaume Lethière, the first monographic exhibition ever presented on the artist. Born in the French colony of Guadeloupe, Guillaume Lethière (1760–1832) was a key figure in French painting during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The son of a white plantation owner and an enslaved woman of mixed race, Lethière moved to France with his father at age fourteen. He trained as an artist and successfully navigated the tumult of the French Revolution to achieve the highest levels of recognition in his time. A favorite artist of Napoleon’s brother Lucien Bonaparte, Lethière served as director of the Académie de France in Rome, as a member of the Institut de France, and as a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts. Despite his remarkable accomplishments, Lethière is not well known today. The exhibition, organized in partnership with the Musée du Louvre and featuring some 100 paintings, prints, drawings, and sculpture, celebrates Lethière’s extraordinary career and sheds new light on the presence and reception of Caribbean artists in France during his lifetime.
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524.
Guillaume Lethière is co-organized by the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, and the Musée du Louvre, Paris, and curated by Esther Bell, deputy director and Robert and Martha Berman Lipp Chief Curator; and Olivier Meslay, Hardymon Director; with the assistance of Sophie Kerwin, curatorial assistant, from the Clark; and by Marie-Pierre Salé, chief curator in the Department of Drawings at the Louvre.
Guillaume Lethière is made possible by Denise Littlefield Sobel and the Mellon Foundation. Major funding is provided by Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy Demands Wisdom; with additional support from Charles Butt, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Robert Lehman Foundation, and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition and its accompanying materials do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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 some 300,000 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, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday from September through June, and daily in July and August. Open 10 am to 9 pm on Wednesdays from June 19 through September 25, with free admission from 5 to 9 pm. Admission is free January through March and is $20 from March through December; admission is free year-round for Clark members, all visitors age 21 and under, and students with a valid student ID. Free admission is also available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; and EBT Card to Culture. For information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
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