History
The Frick Collection is housed in the former Henry Clay Frick House, which was designed by Thomas Hastings and constructed in 1913-1914. John Russell Pope altered and enlarged the building in the early 1930s to adapt it to use as a public institution. It opened to the public on December 16, 1935. The Frick was built at a time when almost every building on Fifth Avenue above 59th Street was a private mansion, with a few private clubs and a hotel. Amidst this wealth, Henry Clay Frick's home was among the most opulent, with private gardens both on the avenue front and in an interior courtyard.
The Frick is one of the preeminent small art museums in the US, with a high-quality collection of old master paintings and fine furniture housed in 6 galleries within the formerly occupied residential mansion. Many of the paintings are still arranged according to Frick's design.
The collection features some of the best-known paintings by major European artists, as well as numerous works of sculpture and porcelain. It also has 18th century French furniture, Limoges enamel, and Oriental rugs. After Frick's death, his daughter, Helen Clay Frick, expanded the collection, with a third of its art works acquired since 1919. The Frick also oversees the nearby Frick Art Reference Library.
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