The Clark Institute in Williamstown (Massachusetts) regains American management. The establishment announced on January 29 the appointment of Esther Bell (47 years old) who will take up her position on July 1. The American curator succeeds the French conservative Olivier Meslay (69 years old). She thus becomes the first woman to head the institution in its seventy-year history.
A specialist in French painting, Esther Bell holds a doctorate in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, after completing a master’s degree at Williams College / Clark Graduate Program in the History of Art. She began her professional career in New York as a research assistant and curatorial fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Morgan Library & Museum. She was then appointed curator of European paintings, drawings and sculptures at the Cincinnati Art Museum. In 2014, she joined the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco as curator in charge of European paintings.
Esther Bell joined the Clark Institute in 2017. She was first appointed principal curator before being promoted in 2022 to chief curator and deputy director. She organizes and co-directs several international exhibitions. Among these: Guillaume Lethière, co-produced by the Clark Institute and the Louvre Museum in 2024-2025.
Esther Bell succeeds Olivier Meslay who announced in September 2025 his intention to leave his position in order to return to France and devote himself to independent activities. Joining the Louvre Museum in 1993, Olivier Meslay was a curator in the Paintings department until 2009. He is notably responsible for the British, Spanish and American schools. He joined the Dallas Museum of Art in 2009. He successively served as chief curator of European and American arts, then as deputy director in charge of curatorial affairs. He also served as interim director of the institution between 2011 and 2012.
Appointed director of the Clark Institute in 2016, Olivier Meslay initiated a decade of transformation: extension of the campus, renovation of the Manton Research Center, enrichment of programming and increased international influence. In 2023, he decided to offer free entry to all visitors from January to March in order to broaden the local and regional audience. Since this measure was implemented, attendance during this winter period has increased by more than 60%. In 2024, Olivier Meslay obtained from the Aso O. Tavitian foundation (philanthropist and entrepreneur of Armenian origin) a donation comprising 331 major works (Rubens, Fragonard, David, Jan van Eyck, etc.) and 45 million dollars, intended to finance the construction of a new wing. He succeeded the American art historian Michael Conforti who had directed the Clark for 20 years.
Founded by collectors Sterling and Francine Clark, the Clark Institute opened to the public in 1955. The establishment houses a rich collection of European and American art from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. It is also one of the rare institutions in the world to combine the status of an art museum and a university research center in art history.
