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The Frick Collection and Art Reference Library Collection
Overview
The Frick Collection houses more than 1,100 works from the Renaissance to the late 19th century. The permanent collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and decorative arts are displayed in a series of 16 galleries. Throughout, there are notable strengths in Old Master paintings, Renaissance bronzes, Limoges enamels, Chinese porcelain, and French 18th century furniture. Masterworks by artists like Holbein, Titian, El Greco, Bellini, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Velasquez, and Fragonard also punctuate the galleries. Selections from the Frick Collection's holdings are represented in ARTstor with 490 images, focusing on paintings, decorative arts, and sculpture.
The Frick Collection is located in a mansion once owned by Henry Clay Frick, one of America's most successful coke and steel industrialists. Built in 1913–14, and designed by the firm Carrère and Hastings to accommodate Frick's art collection, the house is set back from Fifth Avenue with an elevated garden. Inside, the galleries are arranged without regard for period or national origin, in the same spirit that Frick assembled his personal collection before it became a public museum. Upon his death in 1919, Frick bequeathed his New York home and art collection to establish a public gallery, called the Frick Collection, with the purpose of “encouraging and developing the study of fine arts.” Since 1919, the Frick Collection has expanded its physical dimensions and its holdings. In fact, approximately one third of the permanent collection has been acquired since then. Frick's widow and daughter occupied the house until 1931, at which point the museum's trustees began to transform the private residence into a public institution. John Russell Pope was commissioned to create additions to the original structure, including new galleries, a lecture hall/music room, and an enclosed courtyard. In 1935, the Frick Collection was opened to the public.
Pope also designed the building around the corner that currently houses the Frick Art Reference Library, one of the outstanding art history libraries in the United States. The library was founded by Frick's daughter, Helen Clay Frick, in 1920, as a memorial to her father. During her father's lifetime, Ms. Frick conducted research on objects in the collection. The documents and information that she shared with him would provide the nucleus of the Frick Art Reference Library, which Ms. Frick established “to encourage and develop the study of the fine arts, and to advance the general knowledge of kindred subjects.” From 1920-1924, the library was housed in the bowling alley in the basement of the family residence. Eventually, in 1934, the library would open its doors to the public in the present 13-story building designed by Pope. Inspired by the Robert Witt Library of reproductions, now at the Courtauld Institute in London, Ms. Frick collected study photographs of works of art and even commissioned photo-expeditions to record important but seldom reproduced objects. The Photo Archive now holds over one million photographs, and over 60,000 negatives, which document the work of over 36,000 artists. The book collections relate chiefly to the fine arts and decorative arts from the 4th to the mid-20th century, by European and American artists.
This collection was formerly in the AMICO Library.
Collection information
| Total size of collection* | 490 |
|---|---|
| Percentage of completion | 100% |
| Search terms | frick amico |
* Image totals should be regarded as an approximation until a given collection is 100% complete. Users should also bear in mind that the number of images available to them may vary from country to country, reflecting ARTstor’s approach to addressing an international copyright landscape that itself varies from country to country.
Last updated: May 8, 2008
<Image Credits
Master of the Baltimore and Orleans Triptychs; Limoges Painted Triptych: The Crucifixion; St. Barbara; St. Catherine of Alexandria; The Frick Collection