Continuing its commitment to global outreach and cultural exchange, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute opens the exhibition “La Collection Clark à Giverny, de Manet à Renoir” at the Musée des impressionnismes as part of the international tour of masterpieces from its collection of Nineteenth Century European paintings.
Open to the public through October 31, the exhibition represents a unique opportunity to present many of the greatest works from the Clark’s holdings of French Impressionist paintings in their country of origin, particularly notable given Giverny’s central role as a base of activity for many of the most noted artists of the Impressionist movement. The Musée des impressionnismes is located within walking distance of the famed house and gardens of Claude Monet, the inspiration for many of the artist’s most noted works.
The exhibition at Giverny features 72 paintings, including works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Édouard Manet, and Berthe Morisot as well as those by Pierre Bonnard, Alfred Sisley, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Paul Gauguin, Jean-François Millet and Jean-Léon Gérôme.
The museum’s founder, Sterling Clark, moved to Paris in 1910, met and married his wife Francine Clary, an actress in the Comédie Française, and together they began to collect works by many of the most noted French painters of the era. The couple lived in an apartment in the 16th arrondissement in Paris for more than 30 years and owned a horse farm in the countryside of Normandy.
The Clark’s international tour comes to the Musée des impressionnismes from the Palazzo Reale in Milan, where it garnered critical praise and considerable public attention. The exhibition, on view from March 2 to June 19, drew more than 170,000 visitors over the course of 15 weeks.
The timing of the international tour coincides with the Clark’s preparations to launch the next phase of its campus expansion program and presents an ideal opportunity to share these works with a worldwide audience. After Giverny, the works will travel to CaixaForum in Barcelona, where they will be on view from November 18 through February 12.
Venues in 2012 will include the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, from March 4 to June 17; the Royal Academy of Arts in London from July 7 to September 23; and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in Canada from October 8, 2012 to January 20, 2013. In 2013, the exhibition will move on to venues in Japan and China.
The Musee des impressionnismes Giverny is at 99, rue Claude Monet.
For general information, www.clarkart.edu or 413-458-2303.
