WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Clark Art Institute has announced details of its upcoming exhibition “An Exquisite Eye: Introducing the Aso O. Tavitian Collection,” on view June 13, through February 21, 2027. The exhibition of approximately 150 works is the first public presentation of selections from the Tavitian Collection, one of the most significant private collections of European art formed in North America in the 21st century.
The presentation brings together a vibrant range of paintings, sculpture, drawings, and decorative arts from more than four centuries of artistic production (c. 1450-1850). “An Exquisite Eye” includes rare early Netherlandish painting, Italian Renaissance sculpture, Baroque portraiture, and eighteenth-century French works by artists such as Jan van Eyck, Jean-Antoine Houdon, and Elizabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun, offering a compelling view of the collection’s depth across mediums and geography.
A central interpretive element in the exhibition’s design is a large-scale map tracing the geographic origins of selected objects, inviting visitors to follow the circulation of artists, materials, and artistic traditions across regions and time periods.
Assembled by the late collector, philanthropist, and connoisseur Aso O. Tavitian, the collection comprises 331 paintings, sculpture, drawings, and decorative arts of exceptional quality and rarity. Featuring works by many of the most acclaimed artists of the early modern era — Jan van Eyck, Andrea della Robbia, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Peter Paul Rubens, Jean-Antoine Watteau, and Jacques-Louis David, among others — the gift significantly strengthens the Clark’s holdings, particularly in early modern European art, and more than doubles the size of the sculpture collection.
The collection will go on view in 2028 when the Clark opens the new Aso O. Tavitian Wing, designed by Selldorf Architects, adjacent to the current permanent collection galleries.
“This exhibition marks a defining moment for the Clark,” said Olivier Meslay, Hardymon Director of the Clark Art Institute. “The Tavitian Collection represents an extraordinary act of generosity and vision, one that profoundly expands our ability to present the history of European art at the highest level.”
