Clark Art Institute receives Pricely Collection of European Treasures

The gift includes 331 works of art from Mr. Tavitian’s personal collection and more than $45 million to endow a curatorial position to oversee the collection, provide necessary support for the collection’s long-term care, and fund construction of a new Aso O. Tavitian Wing at the Clark. 

“It is an incredible honor to receive this transformational gift,” said Olivier Meslay, Hardymon Director of the Clark Art Institute. “During his lifetime, Aso Tavitian was a wonderful friend to the Clark and a generous supporter who provided us with exceptional leadership and dedication. We are deeply moved by his decision to place the heart of his collection in our trust and immensely grateful to the Trustees of his Foundation for their generosity in ensuring that we can fulfill his desire to share these treasures with the world through the addition of the new Aso O. Tavitian Wing that will house these remarkable works of art.” 

Mr. Tavitian, who had homes in New York City and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, died in 2020. He served on the Clark’s Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2012 and remained engaged with the Clark throughout his lifetime. In 2011, Mr. Tavitian loaned thirty paintings and one sculpture from his collection to the Clark for the exhibition Eye to Eye: European Portraits, 1450–1850. Prior to his death, Mr. Tavitian made the decision to gift a significant portion of his collection to the Clark and had numerous conversations with the Institute’s leadership about his intentions.

The 331 works of art in the gift include 132 paintings, 130 sculptures, thirty-nine drawings, and thirty decorative arts objects, creating an important addition to the Clark’s holdings. The entirety of the Tavitian gift will be on view when the new Aso O. Tavitian Wing opens. Following an introductory presentation at the time of the new wing’s opening, the works on paper included in the gift will be made available for study purposes and be presented in periodic displays. The majority of paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts objects will be shown on a continual basis, both in the new Tavitian Wing and in the Clark’s permanent collection galleries.

The Tavitian gift is particularly rich in portraiture, including important works by Parmigianino, Peter Paul Rubens, Elizabeth Vigée Lebrun, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, and Jacques- Louis David, among others. Also included in the collection are landscapes by Hubert Robert, Claude-Joseph Vernet, and others, as well as religious paintings by artists including Jan van Eyck and Agnolo Bronzino. Sculpture is a great strength of the Tavitian Collection, with works in bronze, plaster, terracotta, marble, and other materials dating from the Renaissance through the late nineteenth-century by artists including Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Andrea della Robbia, Gil de Siloé, Clodion (Claude Michel), and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux.

“Aso Tavitian’s collection of Early Modern paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, and drawings is truly one of the finest in the world,” said Esther Bell, Deputy Director and Robert and Martha Berman Lipp Chief Curator of the Clark. “In making this tremendous gift to the Clark, Aso ensured that the public will have access to these beautiful objects for future generations. We are eagerly anticipating the opportunity to share these works with our visitors.”

The Clark’s existing collection of paintings and sculpture ranges from the Renaissance to the end of the nineteenth century, with strengths in the second half of this period, and greater strength in paintings than in sculpture. The Tavitian gift covers the same period, but with strengths in the earlier periods, and with greater balance between paintings and sculpture. As such, this collection forms a perfect complement and addition to the Clark’s current holdings.

“Aso Tavitian was committed to creating a home for a significant part of his collection at the Clark, where the works that brought him such deep pleasure could be shared with the public,” said Candace Beinecke, President of the Aso O. Tavitian Foundation. “The trustees of the Tavitian Foundation are thrilled to see Aso’s wishes come to life in new galleries that will provide a glorious setting for his magnificent collection and a fitting tribute to this remarkable man’s legacy.”

In addition to the works of art and funding for a new addition, the gift creates an endowment for a new curatorial position, the Aso O. Tavitian Curator of Early Modern European Painting and Sculpture, as well as additional staffing to ensure continuous oversight of the works included in the collection. The gift also supports the publication of a catalogue documenting the collection, as well as the ongoing care and maintenance of the Tavitian Collection and the new facility.

Beginning in 2004 and continuing until his death, Mr. Tavitian assembled one of the most important private groupings of Early Modern art amassed in this generation. Mr. Tavitian’s collection reflected his personal taste, his extraordinary eye, and his belief that seeing these works displayed together further illuminated each object. 

Following Mr. Tavitian’s death, his foundation gifted two paintings from his collection to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Francesco Salviati’s Bindo Altoviti, c.1545) and The Frick Collection (Giovanni Battista Moroni’s Portrait of a Woman, c.1575). These paintings featured prominently in exhibitions that were presented at these institutions in recent years. The gift to the Clark honors Mr. Tavitian’s wishes to keep a significant portion of his art collection intact so that the artworks could be displayed together.  

The collection includes major works by many noted artists. Among the many important works included in the Tavitian gift are: 

Jan van Eyck (Netherlandish, c. 1390–1441) and workshop, Madonna of the Fountain, c. 1440, oil on panel. This rare panel is one of several period versions of one of Van Eyck’s last paintings, dated to 1439 and in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp.

Andrea della Robbia (Italian, 1435–1525/1528), Portrait of a Youth, c. 1470–1480, glazed terracotta. This exceptional work by Ieading Italian Renaissance sculptor della Robbia is modeled in deep relief, with the head and neck set off against a simple roundel glazed in blue, resulting in a sculpture that is remarkably lifelike and modern.

Gil de Siloé (Spanish, active 1486, died c. 1501), Saint Cecile, c. 1500, marble. This rare, delicately carved, sculpture was made by one of the leading Late Gothic artists of fifteenth-century northern Spain, likely as an object of private devotion. 

Jacopo da Pontormo (Italian, 1494–1557), Portrait of a Boy, c. 1535–40 or later, oil on fired tile. This sensitive, Mannerist depiction of an unknown boy, possibly a studio assistant, is rendered on the unusual support of a thick terracotta tile.

Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640) Portrait of a Young Man, c. 1613–1615, oil on panel. While the identity of the sitter is no longer known, this portrait—made following the artist’s return from Rome in what is arguably his most fertile period—is a superb example of Rubens’s ability to capture the subtleties of character. 

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Italian, 1598–1680), Countess Matilda of Canossa, c. 1630–1639, bronze. This small-scale bronze figure is a reduction of the over life-size marble Bernini made for the tomb of Countess Matilda in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome. The Tavitian gift also includes a rare painting by Bernini, thought to be a portrait of his brother Luigi. 

Hubert Robert (French, 1733–1808), Colonnade and Gardens at the Villa Medici, c. 1759, oil on canvas. The collection includes three landscapes by Hubert Robert, including this monumental plein air vista of gentlemen sketching on the grounds of the French Academy in Rome.

Jean-Antoine Houdon (French, 1741–1828), Little Lise, 1775, marble. The delicate carving of the hair, ribbon, and face of a young woman demonstrates Houdon’s unparalleled artistic refinement.

Elizabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun (French, 1755–1842), Self-Portrait in Studio Costume, c. 1800, oil on panel. Several works by women artists are included in the collection, including eighteenth-century portrait painter Vigée-Lebrun, who is represented by this confident self-portrait. 

Jacques Louis David (French, 1748–1825), Portrait of Dominique-Vincent Ramel de Nogaret, 1820, oil on canvas. The artist painted the former finance minister of France during a period when both men were in exile in Brussels following the final abdication of Napoleon in 1815. The gift also includes two other portraits by David, including the pendant portrait of Ramel de Nogaret’s wife, Ange-Pauline-Charlotte Ramel de Nogaret and the portrait of the artist’s son, Jules. 

Main Image: “Madonna of the Fountain,” an oil-on-panel painting dating from around 1440 by Jan van Eyck and workshop Credits Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts