August 14, 2025
CLARK ART INSTITUTE PRESENTS LECTURE BY MICHAEL ANN HOLLY CONSIDERING PHENOMENOLOGY AND THE UNDERSTANDING
OF CANONICAL ARTWORKS
Michael Ann Holly directed RAP and taught in the Williams College/Clark Graduate Program in the History of Art from 1999–2016. Previously, she cofounded and chaired the Visual and Cultural Studies Program at the University of Rochester (1988–1999). A noted scholar, Holly is the author and co-editor of essays and books on the critical theory and history of the history of art, including authoring Panofsky and the Foundations of Art History; Past Looking: Rhetoric and the Historical Imagination; The Melancholy Art, and editor of Visual Culture; Visual Theory; The Subjects of Art History; Art History, Aesthetics, Visual Studies; and What is Research in the Visual Arts?. Holly has received national and international awards, grants, visiting professorships, and fellowships from the Guggenheim, the Getty Research Institute, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a Senior Fellowship at The Center at the National Gallery of Art, among others.
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A 5 pm reception in the Manton Research Center reading room precedes the event. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.
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 nearly 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 to all from 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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