Abbi’s Assemblage

The Sterling and Francine Clark Institute is located in Williamstown, MA. It is an art museum, center for research and higher education. The Clark is surrounded by 1400 acres of lawn, meadows and trails – the grounds themselves warrant a visit. It houses European and American painting and sculpture but is best known for its collection of French Impressionistic paintings.

One of my favorite peices at The Clark is Degas’s bronze sculpture, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Here is Erin, Halli and myself posing next to it and hoping to make the next pamphlet for the B-HIP program.

Notes about the sculpture from The Clark’s website:
Like all of Degas’s bronzes, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen was cast only after the artist’s death. The original figure, shown at the Impressionist exhibition of 1881, was modeled in wax, to which Degas added a hair wig and fabric tutu. Reaction to the work was mixed, with many critics finding the mundane subject matter and strange combination of materials unsuitable for a work of high art.

Another great piece from the museum’s collection:

Domenico Ghirlandaio (Domenico di Tomaso Bigordi)
Italian, 1449-1494
Portrait of a Lady
c. 1490
Tempera and oil on panel
56.1 x 37.7 cm
Acquired by Sterling Clark, 1913
1955.938