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
Mary Ann Beinecke Collection
Helmuth Theodor Bossert (1889 – 1961) was a German and Turkish art historian, philologist and archaeologist. He studied art history, history, archaeology, and German Studies at the universities of Heidelberg, Strasbourg, Munich, and Freiburg im Breisgau. He is best known for his excavations of the Hittite fortress city at Karatepe, Turkey, and for the discovery of bilingual inscriptions, which enabled the translation of Hittite hieroglyphs.
This book, a magnificent collection of designs and ornaments in color, has as its aim “to supply artists and craftsmen with a collection of coloured patterns showing what has been produced during the course of centuries in decorative mural painting…The provenance is Europe and the shores of the Mediterranean, where the foundation of European culture was laid.” This plate is a wall design from Pompeii, dated from the third quarter of the first Century AD, and is said (by W. Zahn) to be a part view of the triclinium wall in the Casa de’ Bronzi.
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.
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New Acquisitions Book of the Week
For thirty years, multidisciplinary artist Sonya Clark has focused her work on the African diaspora in the United States, working to confront, elucidate, and reframe its history. Within her practice she often undertakes this exploration through everyday fiber materials—most notably hair, flags, found fabric—and craft practices. In her work, craft and community are intertwined; her participatory projects promote new collective encounters across racial, gender, and socioeconomic divisions. Sonya Clark: We Are Each Other is a major traveling exhibition focused on the artist’s community-centric and participatory projects.
Through her work, Clark asks us to acknowledge our individual responsibility to the collective whole and to consider such questions as, “How do we address and challenge our shared colonial past, and how do we hold ourselves accountable for and claim agency in what happens next in the future of our society?” We Are Each Other is both a declaration and an invitation, a battle cry and an embrace.
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.