Clark Art Institute to Present First Public Look at Aso O. Tavitian Collection
Major Gift Debuts at the Clark
The Clark Art Institute will present An Exquisite Eye: Introducing the Aso O. Tavitian Collection from June 13, 2026, through February 21, 2027. The exhibition marks the first public presentation of selections from one of the most significant gifts in the museum’s history.
Exhibition Showcases 150 Works
The Williamstown exhibition will feature about 150 works from the 331-piece Tavitian Collection. The collection includes paintings, sculpture, drawings, and decorative arts spanning roughly 1450 to 1850.
The Clark describes it as one of the most important private collections of European art formed in North America in the 21st century.
European Masters Represented
The exhibition includes early Netherlandish painting, Italian Renaissance sculpture, Baroque portraiture, and eighteenth-century French works.
Artists represented include Jan van Eyck, Jean-Antoine Houdon, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Andrea della Robbia, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Peter Paul Rubens, Jean-Antoine Watteau, and Jacques-Louis David.
Highlights include van Eyck’s Madonna at the Fountain, Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder’s Little Bouquet in a Roemer, Anthony van Dyck’s Portrait of Margaret Lemon, Houdon’s Little Lise, Claude-Joseph Vernet’s Rhine Falls, near Schaffhausen, Switzerland, and Vigée Le Brun’s Self Portrait in Studio Costume.
Future Home in New Wing
The collection was assembled by the late collector and philanthropist Aso O. Tavitian. It will eventually be housed in the Clark’s new Aso O. Tavitian Wing, designed by Selldorf Architects and scheduled to open in 2028.
The gift also includes more than $45 million to support care, study, and presentation of the collection. In addition, it funds an endowed curatorial position and construction of the new wing.
Museum Leaders Reflect on Impact
“This exhibition marks a defining moment for the Clark,” said Olivier Meslay, Hardymon Director of the Clark Art Institute. “The Tavitian Collection represents an extraordinary act of generosity and vision.”
Lara Yeager-Crasselt, Aso O. Tavitian Curator of Early Modern European Painting & Sculpture, emphasized the collection’s scope.
“One of the most exciting aspects of the Tavitian Collection is the way it reveals how deeply interconnected artists and traditions were in early modern Europe,” she said.
Esther Bell, Deputy Director and incoming Hardymon Director, highlighted the broader significance.
“This presentation offers an early glimpse of the collection’s depth,” she said. “It also builds anticipation for its future home in the new Tavitian Wing.”
Organized and Supported by Major Donors
The exhibition is organized by the Clark Art Institute and curated by Esther Bell and Lara Yeager-Crasselt.
It is made possible by Denise Littlefield Sobel, with major funding from Hubert and Mireille Goldschmidt. Additional support comes from George W. Ahl III, Robert Dance and Robert Loper, Stuart Lochhead Sculpture, the Asbjorn Lunde Foundation, Inc., and Kathleen Morris and Robert Kraus.
