SUMMER CLAMBAKE AT THE CLARK CELEBRATES OPENINGS OF NEW EXHIBITIONS

For Immediate Release

May 13, 2013

Williamstown, MA—Tuxedos take a back seat to lobster bibs as the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute kicks off summer with a clambake on Saturday, June 8 at 6:30 pm. The gala celebrates the opening of the exhibitions Winslow Homer: Making Art, Making History and George Inness: Gifts from Frank and Katherine Martucci. Tickets are $125 ($100 for Clark members) and may be reserved by visiting clarkart.edu or by calling 413 458 0524.

Guests will enjoy cocktails, a raw bar, and other appetizers, followed by a sumptuous buffet dinner of lobster, clams, barbecued chicken, and many side dishes. Live entertainment includes pianist Bob Werbel, performance artists The Silver Swimmers, and the band The Wandering Rocks, who will sing sea shanties.

Galleries will be open until the close of the event, allowing partygoers to view the Homer and Inness exhibitions a day before they open to the public.

About the Exhibitions

Winslow Homer: Making Art, Making History

Robert Sterling Clark declared that Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910) was one of the greatest artists of the nineteenth century. After purchasing his first Homer painting in 1915, Clark began a passion that would last for decades and would become the greatest collection of works of Winslow Homer ever assembled by one person after the artist's death—and one of the leading collections of any art museum in the United States. This exhibition showcases some sixty oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and etchings, as well as approximately 120 rarely seen wood engravings.

George Inness: Gifts from Frank and Katherine Martucci

This exhibition celebrates the most significant contribution to the Clark’s American art collection since the museum’s founding. Eight paintings by American landscape painter George Inness are presented with two additional works by Inness which were purchased by Sterling Clark and have been a part of the museum’s collection since 1955. The canvases represent an excellent survey of the artist’s late work when Inness moved from the open-air painting and naturalism of his early career toward a more conceptual approach to capturing mood and the play of light and shadow.

About the Clark

Set amidst 140 acres in the Berkshires, the Clark is one of the few major art museums that also serves as a leading international center for research and scholarship. The Clark presents public and education programs and organizes groundbreaking exhibitions that advance new scholarship. The Clark’s research and academic programs include an international fellowship program and conferences. Together with Williams College, the Clark sponsors one of the nation’s leading master’s programs in art history. The Clark receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The galleries are open daily in July and August (open Tuesday through Sunday from September through June), 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $15 June 1 through October 31; free November through May; and free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. For more information, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303. The Clark’s library will be closed for renovation June 1 through September 3, 2013.

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