Great French Paintings from the Clark: Barbizon through Impressionism

A beautifully produced volume devoted to a distinguished collection of European paintings, including an extraordinary group of French Impressionist works. This full-color catalogue features more than 70 of the most important nineteenth-century European paintings in the Clark Art Institute, including masterpieces by Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Morisot, Manet, Degas, and Renoir. The book also includes earlier works by Corot and Millet, as well as academic paintings by artists such as Gérôme and Bouguereau. Insightful essays by leading scholars of nineteenth-century European art are followed by lavish reproductions and illuminating catalogue entries about each work. James Ganz offers a fascinating introduction to Sterling Clark, an heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune, who along with his wife Francine founded the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute to house their important collection of European and American paintings, sculpture, drawings, and decorative arts. Richard Brettell discusses Clark in the context of other early-twentieth-century collectors such as Albert Barnes and Duncan Phillips. Published to accompany an international tour of the featured works, this handsome volume provides a superb overview of this extraordinary collection.