WILLIAMSTOWN, MA.- Unparalleled masterpieces, passionate art collecting, sibling rivalry, and museum patronage headline the current exhibition The Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. The accompanying free lecture series, bringing alive the characters of brothers Sterling Clark and Stephen Clark, and their accomplishments as collectors, concludes on Sunday, August 20 at 2 pm with curator of American art Marc Simpson discussing “Sterling Clark Collects Sargent to Homer.”

Although Stephen and Sterling Clark's taste in art differed in many ways, there were two American artists about whom they agreed: John Singer Sargent and Winslow Homer. Both brothers collected significant works by the two Americans artists and assembled major gatherings of their pictures. This talk will document the specifics of this aspect of the brothers' collections, and highlight the quality of the works gathered by the Clarks. It will also, however, set out the ways in which the two men differed in their approaches to the work of Sargent and Homer.

Sterling and Stephen assembled impressive collections of both European and American art, and although they often purchased works by the same artists, the character of their collections differed significantly. Each lecture will focus on one aspect of either Sterling or Stephen Clark’s collections. Together, the lectures provide deeper insight into the similarities and differences between the collecting interests and intentions of the brothers. Individually, the lectures showcase the masterworks purchased by these two connoisseurs.

Featuring over 70 paintings, The Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings is the first exhibition to unite the masterpieces collected by Sterling Clark – works by Renoir, Monet, Homer and Sargent, and more – with those collected by his brother Stephen Clark, including paintings by Cézanne, Van Gogh, Matisse and Picasso. The exhibition examines the brothers’ collecting and how they helped to define the changing taste for Impressionist and Early Modern art in the first half of the 20th century. It explores their relationship, their rivalry, and the influential but ultimately divergent roles they came to play in the arts in the United States.