The Clark Art Institute Makes Plans to Expand After Generous Donation

Museum November 1, 2024 Carlota Gamboa

Wikimedia Commons, Selldorf Architects

An image of The Clark with the Center, original building, and Manton Research Center, 2016. License

Just four hours from New York City, and serving as the main art institution for schools like Williams College and Bennington, The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts has just received an enormous posthumous donation from the Bulgarian-American software developer Aso O. Tavitian.

Although Tavitian, who sat on The Clark University Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2012, passed away four years ago at the age of 80, it's never too late to accept one of the largest gifts endowed to the The Clark Art Institute since its opening in 1955.

Wikimedia Commons, Peter Paul Rubens

Portrait of a Young Man, Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1613-15. License

The generous collection includes 331 artworks and a $45 million bequest of money for a new gallery wing in Tavitian’s name, in addition to a curatorial team to care for it.

The software industry mogul of Armenian descent— living between New York City and Stockbridge, Massachusetts— had previously loaned out over 30 pieces from his private collection for the Clark’s 2011 exhibition Eye to Eye: European Portraits, 1450–1850, so donating a portion of his collection to The Clark had long been in the works.

“My interest in the arts originally started from a decorative point of view related to the house I had bought in New York, but then I came to appreciate it and fell in love with it,” Tavitian told The Armenian Mirror-Spectator in 2017. As per The New York Times, the remaining 900 works in Tavitian’s collection will be sold at Sotheby’s in February.

Wikimedia Commons, Jan van Eyck

Madonna and Child at the Fountain, Jan van Eyck, 1439. License

The 132 paintings, 130 sculptures, 39 drawings, and 30 bibelots span from the Renaissance to the 19th Century. Some notable works in the acquisition include Peter Paul Rubens’s Portrait of a Young Man (1613-15), Van Eyck’s Madonna at the Fountain (circa 1440), and a marble statue of Saint Cecile (circa 1500) by the Spanish sculptor Gil de Siloé, in addition to pieces by Parmigianino, Bernini, Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet.

“It is an incredible honor to receive this transformational gift,” said The Clark’s Director, Olivier Meslay. “During his lifetime, Aso Tavitian was a wonderful friend to The Clark and a generous supporter who provided us with exceptional leadership and dedication.”

The museum has decided to work with Selldorf Architects— who were also responsible for renovations that took place in 2014 and 2016— to oversee the design of the Aso O. Tavitian Wing, which is expected to be completed sometime between 2027 and 2028. This announcement comes two years after plans to expand the campus and update facilities that will connect the existing museum to William’s Manton Research Center.

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