For Immediate Release
February 15, 2024

CLARK ART INSTITUTE RESEARCH AND 
ACADEMIC PROGRAM PRESENTS LECTURE 
ON ARTIST MADELEINE LEMAIRE

Williamstown, Massachusetts—On Tuesday, March 12 at 5:30 pm, the Clark Art Institute’s Research and Academic Program hosts “A Less Binary Art History is Possible,” a lecture by Kirstin Ringelberg (Elon University / The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation Fellow). In this free talk, Ringelberg addresses the once-celebrated (and occasionally reviled) but now largely unknown Belle Époque Parisian artist Madeleine Lemaire (1845–1928). This free lecture takes place in the Clark’s auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center. 

Working in a wide variety of genres as a “specialty,” Lemaire was sometimes referred to in masculine or hybrid gender terms and seen as an enabler of queer relationships. Notions of sorting and valuing by both gender and artistic genre were central to this time and place yet remain distorted in our persistently binary histories of art. Understanding Lemaire’s artistic and personal history in context can reset our understanding of the way still-dominant canonical commitments to certain stylistic approaches enhance historically unsupportable stances on the relative impact of certain artists and their careers—and support problematically cisheteronormative approaches to art histories of the Euro-American nineteenth century.

Kirstin Ringelberg is professor of art history in the department of history and geography at Elon University in North Carolina. Ringelberg is the author of Redefining Gender in American Impressionist Studio Paintings: Work Place/Domestic Space (Ashgate, 2010; Routledge paperback, 2017). In 2020 Ringelberg co-edited, with Cyle Metzger, the special themed issue “New Work in Transgender Art and Visual Culture Studies” for the Journal of Visual Culture, and co-authored the essay “Prismatic views: a look at the growing field of transgender art and visual culture studies.” At the Clark they will complete a manuscript titled Chez Madeleine Lemaire: Gender and Genre in the Queer Belle Époque.

A 5 pm reception in the Manton Research Center reading room precedes the free program. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events. Admission to the Clark is free through March 2024.

The next Research and Academic Program lecture will be presented by Cynthea J. Bogel (Kyushu University / Clark Fellow) and examine motifs on the pedestal of a colossal gilt-bronze Japanese Buddha of the Nara period (710–784). The talk takes place on Tuesday, April 2 at 5:30 pm in the Manton Research Center auditorium.

ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of some 300,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.

The Clark, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday, from September through June, and daily in July and August. Admission is free January through March and is $20 from March through December; admission is free year-round for Clark members, all visitors age 21 and under, and students with a valid student ID. Free admission is also available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; and EBT Card to Culture. For information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.

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