Author(s): Brian Sholis; Sarah Hamerman; Susan Roeper

Art History

A survey of a unique archive of ephemera from one of the art world's splashiest events

Since 2007, the library of the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, has built an unparalleled archival collection related to the Venice Biennale--a global celebration of contemporary art, complete with national pavilions and thematic exhibitions in grand villas. In Art's Biggest Stage: Collecting the Venice Biennale, 2007-2019, readers can experience these art extravaganzas through related ephemera from the Clark's holdings: artist editions, books, posters, publicity materials, and miscellany (as diverse as pop-up books, tote bags, and wallpaper), much of it illustrated with new photography. By publishing this fascinating and ever-growing trove of memorabilia for the first time, Art's Biggest Stage will serve as an on-going companion to the Biennale and a resource on the Clark's collection. In addition, it uses the objects at the Clark as a lens to explore the same questions of nationhood, identity, and spectacle that are central to the experience of the Biennale itself.