Creating A Museum
The Clarks kept their collection entirely private, rarely lending out any works. By the late 1940s, however, they became worried about the safety of their artwork. With the onset of the Cold War and rapid nuclear armament, they wanted to protect their collection from the possibility of an attack on New York City, where they lived and the home of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (which many had expected to be the heir to the Clarks' collection). The Clarks began looking at sites in rural New York and Massachusetts with the intention of founding a museum for their art.
They visited Williamstown, Massachusetts in 1949 and began having conversations with town leader and the administrators of Williams College and the Williams College Museum of Art. Sterling had ties to the college through his grandfather and father, both of whom had been trustees. A charter for the Clark was signed on March 14, 1950 and the Institute opened to the public on May 17, 1955.
Read more about this topic: Clark Art Institute
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