Richard Rand, the Robert and Martha Berman Lipp Senior Curator and curator of paintings and sculpture at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, will present a free lecture titled “A Private Passion: Sterling and Francine Clark Collect 19th-Century French Paintings” on Friday, April 13, at 6 p.m., in the Museum auditorium. No reservations required.
Sterling and Francine Clark assembled one of the most personal yet characterful private collections of European and American art of the 20th century. Heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune, Sterling Clark pursued a life of adventure (including a scientific expedition to China) and leisure (living for years in Paris, where he met his wife, a French actress), buying art with a passion for quality and beauty.
Rand will discuss the couple's fascinating history and the development of their collection in conjunction with the exhibition The Age of Impressionism: Great French Paintings from the Clark, on view at the Kimbell, the sole American venue, through June 17, 2012. This is the first-ever international tour of French Impressionist masterpieces from the Clark.
Rand has lectured and published widely in his field of research, 17th- to 19th-century French art. He has organized and co-organized numerous exhibitions, including Intimate Encounters: Love and Domesticity in Eighteenth-Century France; Jean-François Millet: Drawn into the Light; Turner: The Late Seascapes; and Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile.