Robert Sterling Clark (June 25, 1877 – December 29, 1956), an heir to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune, was an American art collector, horse breeder, and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

Biography

Known by his middle name, Sterling Clark served in the United States Army in the Philippines and in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

, where he served under General Smedley Butler. Butler, in 1934, claimed Clark had some connection to what Butler believed was an alleged political conspiracy in 1933 to overthrow United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and make Butler the nation's dictator. Following his graduation from Yale University in 1899 with a degree in engineering, Clark visited Paris, France and over the years would return there frequently, eventually maintaining a residence there. In Paris, he met actress Francine Clary whom he married in 1919. He owned several residences: New York City,

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...

, "Sunridge Farm" in Upperville, Virginia, and Paris, France.

Art collecting

Sterling Clark purchased his first Impressionist painting,

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "R ...

's Girl Crocheting, in 1916. He and his wife

Francine :''This is a disambiguation page for the common name Francine.'' Francine is a female given name. The name is of French origin. The name Francine was most popular in France itself during the 1940s (Besnard & Desplanques 2003), and was well used i ...

(1876–1960) continued to collect art rapidly and towards the end of their lives established their collection as a museum near the campus of Williams College in Williamstown Mass. They did this after originally making plans with his brothers Stephen Carlton Clark and

F. Ambrose Clark Frederick Ambrose Clark (August 1, 1880 – February 26, 1964) was an American heir and equestrian. Early life "Brose" Clark was born on August 1, 1880 in Cooperstown, New York. He was the third son of Alfred Corning Clark (1844–1896) and Eliz ...

to combine their collections in a single art museum in Cooperstown. After a falling out among the brothers, Sterling not only cancelled such plans but also withdrew his share of the family fortune from the collective trust. He established his own foundation and sold off or donated all of his property holdings in Cooperstown. He donated the Ernest Flagg designed neoclassic YMCA building commissioned by his mother, Elizabeth Scriven Clark, in 1898 to the village in 1932, and it now houses village offices, the library and the Cooperstown Art Association. Almost no communication between Stephen and Sterling occurred again. Over the next five decades he and his wife collected numerous paintings by Renoir, plus dozens of paintings, sculptures and pastels by other Impressionist artists. In 1950, Sterling and Francine Clark chartered the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute as a home for their extensive art collection. The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts opened its doors to the public in 1955. According to Time magazine, "In building their $3,000,000 Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, the Clarks ignored costs (Local boosters boast that the marble for the new museum was the biggest single order in Vermont since the U.S. Supreme Court.) but insisted on quality." Works in the collection included over 30 Renoirs as well as Dutch, Spanish and American painters such as Winslow Homer, Goya,

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem. Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century group ...

, and Degas.

1909 Expedition

He financed a 1909 Expedition which sought specimens from the Yellow River into Shaanxi and then to

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

provinces of

. He recruited the explorer

Arthur de Carle Sowerby Arthur de Carle Sowerby (8 July 1885 – 16 August 1954; ) was a British naturalist, explorer, writer, and publisher in China. His father was Arthur Sowerby (15 October 1857 – 27 June 1934; ). Background Arthur Sowerby was the son of a Chris ...

as naturalist for the trip, later publishing a book with Sowerby about the expedition entitled ''Through Shên-kan: the account of the Clark expedition in north China, 1908-9''. He established the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation which operates today from offices at 135 East 64th St., New York City.

Horse racing interests

Clark raced horses in the United States and in Europe. In the United States, his

filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

, Current, was voted the 1928 retrospective

American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly The American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a female horse in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when both t ...

, whilst in England

Galatea II Galatea (also known as Galatea II; 1936–1949) was a French-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, broodmare, best known for winning two British Classic Races, Classics in 1939. The filly won three time ...

won the

1000 Guineas The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...

and Oaks in 1939. The most noted horse owned and bred by Clark was

Never Say Die Never Say Die may refer to: Other uses * ''Never Say Die'' (memoir), a 1961 memoir by Jack Hawkins * ''Never Say Die'' (novel), a 2017 novel in the ''Alex Rider'' series by Anthony Horowitz Film and television * ''Never Say Die'' (1920 film), ...

(1951–1975), a Kentucky bred chestnut colt, though conceived in Ireland, before being shipped 'in utero' to Jonabell Farm, Lexington, where Clark's breeding activities were centred. Raced in England, he won the 1954

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

at odds of at 33 to 1. He was ridden by 18-year-old Lester Piggott, the youngest jockey to ever win the Derby. Never Say Die also won the Rosslyn Stakes (ENG) and St. Leger Stakes (Gr.1). Upon retirement, Clark gifted the horse to the National Stud. Following his marriage, Clark's interest in horses waned considerably. Yet during his lifetime he was known as a successful horse owner rather than as the art collector he's known as today.

References

Sterling and Francine Clark Art InstituteRobert Sterling Clark FoundationNever Say Die pedigree

External links

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute 2006 exhibition, ''The Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Robert Sterling 1877 births 1956 deaths Clark family Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni American military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion American art collectors Philanthropists from New York (state) American racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Epsom Derby winners Explorers of China People from Cooperstown, New York People from Upperville, Virginia