Clark Art Talk by Post Art Critic

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Oct. 30 at 6 pm, the Clark Art Institute hosts a special appearance by Pulitzer Prize-winner Sebastian Smee, art critic for The Washington Post, as he introduces his new book 
"Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism."
 
According to a press release.
 
From the summer of 1870 to the spring of 1871 Paris and its people were besieged, enduring bloody street battles, the burning of central Paris, and widespread starvation. It was against the backdrop of these tumultuous times that the Impressionist art movement was born?in response to violence, civil war, and political intrigue.
 
Smee tells the story of those dramatic days through the eyes of the leading figures of Impressionism. At the heart of it all is a love story between artists Édouard Manet and Berthe Morisot, as Smee poignantly depicts their complex relationship, their tangled effect on each other, and their great legacy, while bringing overdue attention to the woman at the heart of Impressionism. In the aftermath of the conflict, these artists all developed a newfound sense of the fragility of life. That feeling for transience?reflected in Impressionism's emphasis on fugitive light, shifting seasons, glimpsed street scenes, and the impermanence of all things?became the movement's great contribution to the history of art.
 
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A book signing follows the talk. Copies of "Paris in Ruins" will be available for purchase at the talk and in the Museum Store.

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Williams College Addressing New Bias Incidents

iBerkshires.com Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Saying the college has to “resist hatred in all its forms,” the president of Williams Monday informed the campus community of recent bias incidents at the school.
 
Maud Mandel sent a college-wide email to provide details on the incidents, talk about how affected students are being supported and point out that the college’s code of conduct will be brought to bear on any members of the student body found to be responsible.
 
The recent incidents appear to be targeting both Jewish and Black students at the school.
 
“In one case, a table painted with the U.S. and Israeli flags was placed outside on the Frosh Quad,” Mandel said, referring to an area bounded by two residence halls that abut Park Street . “Over several days the table was repeatedly flipped over and damaged. It was eventually defaced with graffiti that read, ‘Free Palestine,’ ‘I love Hamas,’ ‘F— Zionists,’ ‘Colonizers,’ ‘F— AmeriKKKa’ and ‘Don't claim rednecks.’ “
 
The Star of David was crossed out on an Israeli flag at the table, and the table itself was repeatedly damaged by vandals, Mandel wrote.
 
Her email also referenced a series of reports earlier this semester involving the harassment of Black students on Main Street (Route 2), which runs through the middle of campus.
 
“[On] several occasions this semester, people in cars have yelled the N-word and other racial slurs at Black and other students crossing Route 2,” Mandel wrote. “During one of those incidents a person in the car also threw an empty plastic bottle at the students. Route 2, the main public thoroughfare through campus, has been a site of similar incidents in past years.”
 
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