A passion for Renoir

Now, for the first time, all thirty-three Renoir masterpieces currently in the collection of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, are brought together in one volume and illuminated by a compelling portrait of Clark, drawn from his never-before-published diary. One of the heirs to the Singer Sewing Machine Fortune (his grandfather had been Isaac Singer's business partner), Robert Sterling Clark also inherited from his Father a fervent interest in art collecting. Clark amassed his collection in the first half of the twentieth century, when Renoir was the most popular of the Impressionists, the one whose work brought premium prices on the art market and formed the cornerstone of many of the great American art collections of the time. Though he preferred to remain largely anonymous, Clark was one of a handful of important collectors who helped to advance Renoir's fame between the wars. Responding most strongly to the artist's early works, Clark also favored certain themes: his collection is particularly rich in works featuring children, in landscapes, and in portraits of women (especially an exquisite, world-renowned group of Bathers). Offering