The Clark Art Institute
One of the great advantages of residing in southern Vermont is the close proximity to some of the best art museums in the country. The Clark Art Institute is located in Williamstown, MA and well worth the visit. Listed below are a few of my favorite paintings from their permanent collection and a print from the excellent temporary exhibition: Paper Cities.
For those that can’t visit at the moment , here is a publication of the collection: The Clark: The Institute and Its Collections
Alexandre Calame: The Mythen
1861, Oil on Canvas
There’s something to be said for majestic mountainous landscapes on a smaller scale. Here we see the intense color and focus of the the two peaks. Subsequently the darker colored details slowly reveal themselves.
Discovering these paintings for the first time from artists I had not previously heard of is always inspiring and a good nexus point for a new branch of discovery.
François Boucher: Vulcan Presenting Arms to Venus for Aeneas
1756, Oil on Canvas
A preliminary “sketch” for a larger tapestry work. The detail and skill of Boucher coupled with the clean lines and surface of his paintings are always impressive. I love his grander themed works based upon mythology which for me fit the swirling Rococo style the best. That frame is pretty wild too.
Paul Gauguin: Young Christian Girl
1894, Oil on Canvas
Yellow is a color that can be difficult to paint with but Gauguin is able to control the color brilliantly. There is a lot of variety within the colors of the dress. The surprising part for me about this painting is the surface the paint is rendered upon. You can see the weave of the canvas. It’s course. Almost like burlap. The composition of this painting io a little odd – the figure front and center in the foreground, seemingly unconnected to the receding landscape behind.
John Singer Sargent: Fumée d’ambre gris
1880, Oil on Canvas
A painting made all the more striking by the dark plum colored walls of the particular gallery where it is hung. You can’t really see it here but the subject’s right hand holding up the robe is an incredible passage of skill with the brush. A masterclass in the use of warm and cool varieties of the same basic color. The thick expressive varieties of white paint are a minimalists dream.
The only American painter on this list. The museum has a substantial collection of American painters including works by Winslow Homer. See this publication – Winslow Homer: The Clark Collection
the American painters at The Clark deserve their own article.
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo: The Chariot of Aurora
1734, Oil on Canvas
Unlike Boucher above, Tiepolo who also painted in the Rococo seems to exhibit a genuine reverence for our supernatural overlords. What I love about the paintings of Tiepolo is the line work. You can see his drawing ability coming through the paintings.
Charles Henry Baskett: The City
1916, Aquatint on wove paper
Part of the temporary exhibition Paper Cities. I love the tonal qualities of aquatints as opposed to the line-work of etchings. The intense blacks and smokey grays, all hovering around the murky looking Thames river with the Dome of St Paul’s Cathedral rising above it all.