December 10, 2025
CLARK ART INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES HOLIDAY HOURS
Williamstown, Massachusetts—The Clark Art Institute will be closed in observance of Christmas Eve on Wednesday, December 24 and Christmas Day on Thursday, December 25. The Clark is open for regular hours on Wednesday, December 31 from 10 am to 5 pm. In observance of New Year’s Day, the Clark is closed on Thursday, January 1, 2026.
Highlights of the winter holiday schedule include:
Shadow Visionaries: French Artists Against the Current, 1840–70
Clark Center special exhibition galleries
December 20, 2025–March 8, 2026
Although Realism is often seen as the dominant aesthetic of mid-nineteenth-century France, many artists working outside painting embraced imagination, dreams, and allegory instead. Working against the grain, figures such as Victor Hugo, Charles Meryon, Rodolphe Bresdin—and a roster of early French photographers—offered an alternate vision anchored in memory, fantasy, and longing. These printmakers and photographers, called “shadow visionaries” for this project, recognized the potential of prints and photographs to construct a spiritual consciousness in the art of mid-1800s France.
Shadow Visionaries: French Artists Against the Current, 1840–70 encompasses the Gothic nostalgia of architectural photography, the social critique embedded in searing allegorical illustrations, and the literary connections with fantastical art, among other themes.
The exhibition is organized by the Clark Art Institute and curated by Anne Leonard, Manton Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs.
Major funding for Shadow Visionaries is provided by Hubert and Mireille Goldschmidt with additional support from the IFPDA Foundation and the Troob Family Foundation.
Gridlocked: The Geometry of Weaving
Manton Research Center reading room
Through May 17, 2026
The Clark library’s series of year-round public installations, Paginations, presents Gridlocked: The Geometry of Weaving, exploring facets of the art and science of weaving, as considered through a selection of manuals, pattern books, textile samples, and artists’ books. Going beyond practical applications, this display celebrates the intentional and inadvertent geometries related to the act of weaving.
This display, free and open to the public, is drawn from the Clark Art Institute library’s collections and curated by members of the library staff.
Raffaella della Olga: Typescripts
Eugene V. Thaw Gallery for Works on Paper, Manton Research Center
Through May 31, 2026
For the past decade, Raffaella della Olga has made unique artist’s books using modified typewriters and multicolor ink ribbons on a range of materials—from tracing paper to photo paper to sandpaper. Della Olga (b. 1967, Italy; lives and works in France) worked briefly as an attorney before becoming an artist; now, seeking refuge from the limitations of language, she grinds down the characters on her machines and communicates through form, color, texture, and rhythm. Della Olga plays her typewriters like instruments, following a script in some cases and improvising freely in others.
This exhibition, the artist’s first solo museum show, assembles her books alongside her typewritten paintings and cut fabric wall-hanging works. Her work is accompanied by rare and artist’s books from the Clark library, spanning the late nineteenth century to the present, which reflect the typewriter’s still-vivid potential as a creative tool.
Raffaella della Olga: Typescripts is organized by the Clark Art Institute and curated by Robert Wiesenberger, curator of contemporary projects.
Major funding for Raffaella della Olga: Typescripts is provided by the Edward and Maureen Fennessy Bousa Fund for Contemporary Projects and Dena M. Hardymon, with additional support from Katherine and Frank Martucci. Generous support for the catalogue is provided by Michael Alper and Bruce Moore, with additional support from Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip Aarons.
The Clark’s grounds, which are always open free of charge, provide miles of walking trails. In the winter months, the Clark’s popular Project Snowshoe program offers visitors the opportunity to borrow free snowshoes to explore the beauty of the campus in winter. Snowshoes are available in adult and child sizes on a first-come, first-served basis. As the seasons change, visitors are invited to discover and rediscover the six monumental sculptures positioned across the campus as part of the outdoor exhibition, Ground/work 2025 (open through October 12, 2026).
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. From April through December, admission is $22 for adults, $20 for seniors (65+), $10 for young adults (18–25) and college students, and free for all visitors under 18. Admission is free year-round for Clark members. 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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