The Clark houses one of the most distinguished art research libraries in the country, with more than 296,000 volumes in over 130 languages. From its opening in 1962 the library has grown and changed over the years to accommodate teaching spaces, visual resources, new programs and initiatives, and a never-ending array of new technologies (in addition, of course, to its growing collection of books), always striving to meet the needs of our valued students, scholars, staff, researchers, and visitors.
The library’s special collections enhance both library and museum holdings. Highlights include the founding collection of Robert Sterling Clark's rare books, the history of photomechanical reproduction, early illustrated printed books, decorative arts and sample books, twentieth- and twenty-first century artists’ books, and archival collections.
special collections book of the month
David A. Hanson Collection
The Vanishing Race chronicles the Wanamaker Expeditions, led 1908-1913 by Joseph K. Dixon, which were meant to document the lives and cultures of Native Americans living in the western United States at that time. Rodman Wanamaker, heir to the Wanamaker department store fortune, was a political advocate for the rights of Native Americans to citizenship in the United States. On one level, Wanamaker was concerned that the life and culture of the "vanishing race" would be lost to modernity and relegated to reservation life. On another level, Wannamaker’s work can now be read as a thinly veiled attempt to convince tribes to capitulate gratefully to white victory and white justice. During the last expedition in 1913, Dixon organized and photographed a series of flag-raising ceremonies on dozens of Indian reservations across the West, purportedly to show Indian allegiance to the United States and to publicize Wanamaker's efforts at lobbying for the citizenship of Native Americans. Through staged shots and photographic manipulation, Dixon emphasized the romanticism of the "noble savage"—a message that complemented Wanamaker's desire to stir sympathy for Native Americans in the hearts of white citizens but that, in the end, created a melodramatic charade from which Native Americans gained only empty promises.
FOLLOW THE LIBRARY
Serving the general public as well as visiting scholars and local students and faculty, the Clark library welcomes all visitors to use its reference and research services and to enjoy its collections. An extensive array of electronic resources and reference materials support scholarly research in the field of Art History. Library staff are dedicated to assisting all users to access the library’s wide-ranging and diverse collections.
MORE
New Acquisitions Book of the Week
Few contemporary artists before the 1990s explored the negative impact of the Spanish in the Southwest; however, in response to unreflective celebrations of the Columbus Quincentennial in 1992, artists, especially Indigenous artists, began to portray a more complicated legacy of Columbus' arrival in the Americas. Through a series of etchings, Floyd Solomon of Laguna and Zuni heritage undertook a visual recounting of Pueblo history using Indigenous knowledge positioned to reimagine a history that is known largely from non-Native records. While Solomon originally envisioned more than forty etchings, he ultimately completed just twenty. From nightmarish visions of the Spanish that preceded their arrival to the subsequent return of the Spanish and their continuing effects on the Pueblo people, Solomon provides a powerful visual record. These insightful, probing etchings are included in this important full-color volume showcasing Solomon's work and legacy. In Reimagining History from an Indigenous Perspective, Joyce M. Szabo positions Solomon among his contemporaries, making this vibrant artist and his remarkable vision broadly available to audiences familiar with his work and to those seeing it for the first time.
LIBRARY HOURS
PUBLIC HOURS
The library is open without appointment. Hours are:
Monday - Friday, 9 am to 5 pm
All are welcome to email the library with reference/research questions.
HOLIDAYS
The library is closed to the public on the following holidays:
New Year's Day
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Presidents' Day
Memorial Day
Juneteenth
Independence Day
Labor Day
Indigenous Peoples Day
Thanksgiving (2 days)
Christmas (2 days)
EXTENDED HOURS
Extended hours are available to holders of a Clark badge or a Reader's Card. Reader's cards are given by application. Cards may not be appropriate for all applicants but we will always do our best to meet your research needs.
Mon-Thurs 8 am to 11 pm
Friday 8 am to 6 pm
Saturday 9 am to 6 pm
Sunday 9 am to 11 pm
HOLIDAYS
With the exception of Christmas Day and New Year's Day the library is open during holidays to anyone eligible for extended hours.