The Metropolitan Museum of Art has an eclectic exhibition (through August 19, 2007) highlighting the achievements of two renowned collectors. “Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings: The Clark Brothers Collect” brings together works once owned by the brothers Robert Sterling Clark (1877-1956) and Stephen Carlton Clark (1882-1960). Some 65 paintings are included, reflecting the disparate tastes of the brothers, who eventually had a falling out and went their separate ways in the art world.
Robert Clark founded the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and Stephen Clark was a trustee of and donor to the Metropolitan. The brothers were heirs to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune.
Strolling through the rooms one can see works by Degas Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Homer and Sargent that come from Sterling Clark’s collection, as well as paintings by Cézanne, Seurat, Matisse, Picasso, Eakins and Hopper, which were those favored and collected by Stephen Clark. This marks the first time that they have been assembled and seen together.
One is struck at the sheer variety of what the brothers became enthusiastic about, and in their way, they pioneered in recognizing the importance of the art they were amassing. For further information phone: 212-535-7710.