Antiquities to Impressionism: The William A. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art

This book was published to coincide with an exhibition celebrating the 75th anniversary of William A. Clark’s bequest of more than 800 objects from his private collection to the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Having earned his fortune in the copper industry, Clark amassed his art collection in retirement.

One essay is devoted to Clark the collector, featuring archival photographs of the collection in his residence. A second essay delves into Clark’s relationship with the Corcoran. Entries on the works are divided into chronological sections and feature paintings and sculptures by Jan van Goyen, Thomas Gainsborough, Jean-Siméon Chardin, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Eugène Delacroix, Auguste Rodin, and Edgar Degas alongside rare Greek terracottas, antique lace, Indo-European rugs, Italian Renaissance maiolica, and the Salon Doré, an 18th-century gilded French room that was installed at the Corcoran.

When the Corcoran Gallery of Art closed in 2014 the National Gallery of Art accessioned much of its collection and became custodian of its publications. This and other out-of-print Corcoran volumes have been made freely available as PDFs in an effort to perpetuate the legacy of that institution.