National Gallery of Art, Washington, March 13, 2027–January 17, 2028

Souvenirs of the Gilded Age: French Landscapes from the Corcoran Collection presents 19th-century French landscape paintings from the collection of industrialist William A. Clark (1839–1925), one of Montana’s famed “Copper Kings” and an ambitious art collector at the turn of the last century. Although Clark collected a wide range of artists and media, French landscape paintings like those on view in this exhibition formed a significant part of Clark’s collection. This intimately scaled presentation features some 20 paintings by the most celebrated French landscape artists of his day.  

Before impressionism came to dominate the collecting tastes of many Americans in the late 19th century, enthusiasm for “modern” French art centered on an earlier generation of landscape painters who captured the natural beauty of the French countryside. For American viewers, their works often evoked memories of European travels and unspoiled vistas. Souvenirs of the Gilded Age features landscapes by artists including Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and other painters associated with the forests of Fontainebleau, among them Jules Breton, Jean-Charles Cazin, Léon Augustin Lhermitte, Théodore Rousseau, Constant Troyon, and Narcisse Virgile Díaz de la Peña.

William A. Clark had a strong affinity for France, where he visited annually and was a member of French cultural organizations. He acquired not only major works by William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Jean-Léon Gérôme—painters whose refined academic style appealed to Gilded Age tastes—but also important examples of tapestry, porcelain, and furniture in the style of Louis XV and Louis XVI. He also built a trove of thousands of rare volumes, manuscripts, and early printed books, some bound and illuminated with exquisite craftsmanship. Clark’s appreciation for Barbizon school and academic painting reflected the aspirations of America’s new industrial elite, and his contributions helped shape the foundations of art institutions and library culture in the United States.

Upon Clark’s death in 1925, much of his collection—most notably his library and holdings of fine art—was bequeathed to the Library of Congress and to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the first art museum in Washington, DC. The National Gallery subsequently acquired a selection of Clark’s French paintings as part of the Corcoran acquisition in 2014, significantly expanding the museum’s collection of 19th-century French art.

Exhibition Organization and Support

Souvenirs of the Gilded Age: French Landscapes from the Corcoran Collection is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Exhibition Curator

This exhibition is curated by Mary Morton, curator and head of French paintings at the National Gallery of Art.

About the National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, is the nation’s art museum, home to a renowned collection of over 160,000 works of art, from antiquity to today. Each year, the museum welcomes millions of people in person and online to explore art, creativity, and our shared humanity. Located on the National Mall, admission to the West and East Buildings, Sculpture Garden, special exhibitions, and public programs is always free.