Robert Sterling Clark
| Sterling Clark | |
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William Orpen: Portrait of Robert Sterling Clark, (c. 1921-1922)
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| Born |
June 25, 1877 Cooperstown, New York, United States |
| Died | December 29, 1956 (aged 79) Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States |
| Residence | Williamstown, Massachusetts, New York City, New York, Paris, France, Upperville, Virginia |
| Education | Yale University |
| Occupation | Art collector, Racehorse owner/breeder, Philanthropist |
| Known for | Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute |
| Spouse(s) | Francine Clary |
| Parent(s) | Alfred Corning Clark & Elizabeth Scriven |
Robert Sterling Clark (June 25, 1877 – December 29, 1956), heir to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune, was an American art collector, horse breeder, and philanthropist.
Known by his middle name, Sterling Clark served in the United States Army in the Philippines and in China during the Boxer rebellion, 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, "Sunridge Farm" in Upperville, Virginia, and Paris, France.
Sterling Clark purchased his first Impressionist painting, Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Girl Crocheting, in 1916. He and his wife Francine (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 to combine their collections in a single art museum in Cooperstown.
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