Related Events
CURATING BRITISH ART: A CONVERSATION WITH OLIVIER MESLAY
Wednesday, November 29, 5:30 pm
To commence the symposium British Art 1750–1919: Reflections and Futures, Olivier Meslay (Hardymon Director of the Clark) and Caroline Fowler (Starr Director, Research and Academic Program) discuss Meslay’s experience curating British art, and how the field of British art has changed since Meslay mounted one of the first exhibitions dedicated to British art at the Louvre Museum, Paris, in 1994, British Art in French Collections. A scholar of British art, Meslay brings his experience of working within both French and American institutions to consider how shifting ideas of borders, nationalism, art history, and exhibition trends have transformed not only the field of British art but also museum practice and exhibitions more widely.
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A 5 pm reception in the Manton Research Center reading room precedes the event.
BRITISH ART 1750–1919: REFLECTIONS AND FUTURES SYMPOSIUM
Thursday, November 30, 9 am
In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Manton Research Center building, this symposium is an opportunity to reflect on the Sir Edwin A.G. Manton and Florence Lady Manton Collection of British Art, one of the strongest collections of British art assembled in the last fifty years. The Research and Academic Program, in collaboration with the Williams College/Clark Graduate Program in the History of Art, convenes scholars—former fellows, staff, and Williams students—whose work has been influenced by their time within the Manton building.
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 549 0524.
MANTON FILM SERIES: GREAT BRITISH FILMS—CHARIOTS OF FIRE
Thursday, November 30, 6 pm
“The British are coming!” screenwriter Colin Welland famously proclaimed, Oscar in hand. While this sporting saga ultimately proved not to herald a British celluloid renaissance, it certainly flew the flag for the industry’s craftsmanship and acting talent. Although perhaps remembered as a celebration of gritty Brits triumphing over much-fancied Americans, Chariots of Fire is actually a portrait of social outsiders making their contribution to the greater national good—Ian Charleson’s God-fearing Scot, who refuses to run on the Sabbath, and Ben Cross’s Jewish sprinter. First-time director Hugh Hudson was—like Alan Parker and Ridley Scott before him—recruited by producer David Puttnam from the advertising world, his skilled commercial aesthetic exemplified by the striking juxtaposition of 1920s athletes and Vangelis’s modern electronic score.
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 549 0524.
MANTON FILM SERIES: GREAT BRITISH FILMS—LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
Thursday, December 7, 6 pm
“I’m different,” declares Peter O’Toole’s T.E. Lawrence. Director David Lean had worked on something approaching this scale on The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), but his masterstroke with Lawrence of Arabia was to center this colossal epic about the World War I Arab revolt on a strange and fascinating performance from O’Toole, then enough of an unknown to merit the credit “And Introducing...” One stunning set piece follows another: the entrance of Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif) through a mirage, then the capture of the town of Aqaba and the attack on a Turkish train. But for all this epic splendor, Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson’s script asks searching questions about identity and loyalty, and the ultimately grim view of British intervention in Arab affairs remains all too relevant.
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 549 0524.
MANTON FILM SERIES: GREAT BRITISH FILMS—SECRETS & LIES
Thursday, December 14, 6 pm
An expert observer of unembellished humanity, writer-director Mike Leigh reached new levels of expressive power and intricacy with this exploration of the deceptions, small and large, that shape our relationships. When Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a Black optometrist who was adopted as a child, begins the search for her birth mother, she doesn’t expect that it will lead her to Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn, winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s best actress award), a lonely white factory worker whose tentative embrace of her long-lost daughter sends shock waves through the rest of her already fragile family. Born from a painstaking process of rehearsal and improvisation with a powerhouse ensemble cast, Secrets & Lies lays bare the emotional fault lines running beneath everyday lives.
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 549 0524.
OPENING LECTURE: 50 YEARS AND FORWARD
Saturday, December 16, 11 am
Manton Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs Anne Leonard introduces the pair of exhibitions 50 Years and Forward: Works on Paper Acquisitions in the Clark Center lower level and 50 Years and Forward: British Prints and Drawings Acquisitions in the Eugene V. Thaw Gallery for Works on Paper, located in the Manton Research Center. These exhibitions mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Manton Research Center with a choice selection of prints, drawings, and photographs acquired since 1973. Featuring recent acquisitions and other works never shown at the Clark before, the presentations trace not only the growth of classic areas of strength but also the emergence of fresh collecting territories.
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 549 0524.
MANTON FILM SERIES: I/O FEST PRESENTATION OF THE LODGER
Thursday, January 11, 6 pm
With his third feature film, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, Alfred Hitchcock took a major step toward greatness and made what he would come to consider his true directorial debut. This haunting silent thriller tells the tale of a mysterious young man (matinee idol Ivor Novello) who takes up residence at a London boardinghouse just as a killer known as the Avenger descends upon the city, preying on blonde women.
Screening as part of I/O Fest weekend, The Lodger is animated by the palpable energy of Matthew Gold and Paul de Jong, decisively establishing the director’s formal and thematic obsessions with their live musical accompaniment.
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 549 0524.
LONDON NATIONAL THEATRE: GOOD
Sunday, February 11, 3 pm
David Tennant (Doctor Who) makes a much-anticipated return to the West End in a blistering reimagining of one of Britain’s most powerful, political plays. As the world faces its Second World War, John Halder, a good, intelligent German professor, finds himself pulled into a movement with unthinkable consequences. Olivier Award-winner Dominic Cooke (Follies) directs C.P. Taylor’s timely tale, with a cast that also features Elliot Levey (Coriolanus) and Sharon Small (The Bay).
The Clark broadcasts a recording of this production, filmed live from the Harold Pinter Theatre in London.
Tickets $18 ($16 members, $14 students, $5 children 15 and under). Advance registration required; capacity is limited. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 549 0524.