The Magazine Antiques - October 1997 Clark Art Institute Issue
The October 1997 issue of The Magazine Antiques, devoted substantially to the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, with articles on the Clarks as collectors, old master paintings, prints and drawings, porcelain, silver, and nineteenth-century painting and sculpture.
Overview
The Magazine Antiques - October 1997 presents a substantial Clark Art Institute issue, anchored by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The cover features a detail of an important silver teakettle on stand with lamp marked by Paul de Lamerie, London, dated 1745/46 for the kettle and 1746/47 for the lamp and stand. The issue has the kind of museum-centered depth that makes older numbers of The Magazine Antiques useful far beyond casual reading: it is a compact reference object, a period record of scholarship, collecting taste, and institutional presentation.
Contents include Michael Conforti on the art institute in the Berkshires, David S. Brooke on the Clarks as collectors, Julius S. Held on old master paintings, James A. Ganz on prints and drawings, Beth Carver Wees on continental and English porcelain and on silver in the Clark Art Institute, Patricia R. Ivinski on Robert Sterling Clark as a collector of Renoir, Franklin Kelly on Clark as a collector of Homer, and Marc Simpson on Clark as a collector of Sargent. The issue also includes regular departments such as current and coming, museum accessions, books about antiques, calendar, editorial, and design notes.
Dating / Background
Published in October 1997, this issue also marks the magazine's 75th anniversary period, noted on the cover as 1922-1997. The emphasis on the Clark Art Institute gives the number particular appeal for readers interested in American collecting history, museum formation, old master taste, French Impressionism, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, European silver, porcelain, and the broader movement of private collections into public institutions. For a bookseller, collector, decorator, or researcher, it is more than a back issue: it is a curated snapshot of late twentieth-century scholarship around one of America's important art museums.
Why Collect
Individual issues of The Magazine Antiques are often most desirable when they focus tightly on a major collection, institution, or body of material. This number does that especially well. The Clark theme links fine art, decorative arts, and collecting biography in a single issue, making it useful for reference shelving, object research, and associative collecting. The advertising is also part of the appeal, documenting the upper end of the antiques trade in 1997 through dealers, galleries, and luxury retail presentation.
Dimensions (inches)
- Height: 11 7/8
- Width: 9 1/8
- Depth: 1/4
- Weight: 0.9 lbs
Condition
Good condition. Oversized page is folded in as printed. Light spine roll, light handling, clean interiors with slight age toning, bumped corners, and a light wrinkle on the lower left corner of the back cover. Overall a sound, readable, and presentable copy with condition issues consistent with normal use and storage.
