Join MA-NMWA for a very special visit to a Private Art Collection. This a rare chance to tour this private contemporary art collection, among the most exhaustive in Massachusetts, in the company of its 35+ year curator, Rachael Arauz.
The Francis H. Williams Collection is located in Wellesley, MA, and is housed in a mid-nineteenth century family estate home. This private art collection includes over 6000 works of modern and contemporary art in all media. The majority of works have been made by artists in the United States and Europe, but Latin American and Asian artists are also represented with some depth. Art is installed throughout the house, including ten site-specific installations. No single theme or acquisition priority defines the collection. Instead, a diversity of ideas, art movements, and materials explore both canonical and unexpected narratives. Collage, map and book-based objects, the Chicago-based “Hairy Who” group, geometric abstraction, language-based works, conceptual art, craft materials, and process-driven work are all represented in the collection, as well as artists such as Thomas Nozkowski, Lorraine O’Grady, Marsden Hartley, Alex Katz, Betye Saar, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Florence Pierce, Julianne Swartz, Romare Bearden, Sheila Hicks, Miyoko Ito, and Sonya Clark. Frank Williams’s curiosity and observations about connections between formal traditions, intellectual history, and biography have shaped this unique, museum-quality collection. Conversations and deep friendships with many contemporary artists have informed his wide-ranging interest in modern and contemporary art. The house is actively lived in by Frank Williams and his wife Keris Salmon. Access to their home is by invitation and friendship; there is no website and no publication about the collection.
This event is for current MA-NMWA Supporters, who will have priority booking privileges, and for Friend level members. Tour numbers are very limited, and we are sure this offering will book out quickly. Further details and directions will be forwarded to successfully registered members, closer to the date.
