Frick Collection

5/21/2008

Time spent at the Frick is beneficial to the soul.  And, since a considerable portion of urban living involves suffering through situations that deplete, demean, and destroy the soul, this makes regular trips to the Frick essential for survival in this lunatic city.

The museum is exactly the right size, and I'm surprised to read in the other reviews on this page that anybody has ever suggested that the permanent collection is anything less than excellent.  The Whistler and Singer Sargent paintings are worth the price of admission alone!  Add to that paintings by Ingres, Degas, Holbein, El Grecco, and the Bouchet and Fragonard rooms... what more could you ask for?

4/28/2011

This place was really cool. I'm a bit museum'd out after traveling all over but still really enjoyed this place. I like the more natural setting and kept trying to imagine living here.

6/13/2011

One of my favorite museums ever. Other reviews have pretty much covered why. It's a perfect refuge on a hot summer day, even if you had no plans to go to a museum. The admission is cheap ($5 for students!), the collection short and sweet, and the building jaw-dropping.

5/17/2012

I really enjoy visiting Frick collection.There was something there which distinguish it from other meuseums.Incredible paintings and bronse statues were totally different.If you are a fan of classic 18th and 17th art.I highly recommend there besides free audio guid was awsome.

11/19/2009

The building itself is art - it's unbelievable. You feel privileged to be inside such a beautiful place. It's a great glimpse of an era gone by and a wonderful, very unique chance to enter the legendary opulence of the Upper East Side of years past.

Frick's European art collection is nothing to sneeze at, either. The sculptures and paintings are closely monitored by guards, but the museum is so open and "uncontrolled" that you feel you are just wandering around somebody's house. It's a very cool, under-the-radar museum that has a lot to offer, and I've brought a lot of visiting friends here. Heads-up: Sunday mornings are pay-what-you-wish from 11 AM to 1 PM.

9/28/2009

A rare opportunity to glimpse into the world of one of the Gilded Age's fabulous mansions and it's phenomenal art collection.

What a special gift Mr. Frick bestowed upon the city when he left an endowment to maintain his incredible Beaux Arts Mansion and the possessions it contains.

Everywhere you look inside this stunning building is a masterpiece; whether it be the structure itself, the furnishings, or the Old World Master paintings on the walls.

Rarely, if ever, is one able to see and appreciate art in the setting it was selected for. Unlike traditional museums that are filled with galleries of objects, the Frick was a functioning home built to house and display this collection. One sees the pieces as Mr. Frick did, nearly a century ago.

We went on Sunday when admission is 'pay as you wish.' We contributed $10/each (as opposed to the normal $18 charge), but it would be WELL WORTH the $18 if your schedule doesn't accommodate a Sunday trip.

Without the art hanging on the walls, this would still be an incredible experience. Unfortunately, the vast majority of 5th Avenue Mansions were razed, replaced by style-less, in-ornate, blemishes of apartment houses of no notoriety. The Frick, and its art collection is a splendid opportunity to experience New York's Gilded Age!

7/20/2009

Beautiful collection in an old home. It's interesting to see how this wealthy family that collected art displayed their collection.

Nice size. You can see several masterpieces in a short amount of time.

4/14/2011

This is a very nice, very small museum. There are some beautiful works here and I especially liked the period rooms. I do think it is over rated and over priced.

2/28/2011

The Frick Collection is a great place to hang out on a lazy Sunday (especially when it's cold outside!).  The collection is pretty amazing, and I was really impressed with how the family coordinated their furniture and porcelain collections to match the paintings as well.  The house itself is amazing, especially the french rooms and most impressive is the art gallery room.  I recommend using the audio guide during your visit.  It orients you to how all the pieces are connected in each room.

2/6/2010

This is my favorite museum in NYC and the only one I am a member of. I also love MOMA, the Met, the Natural Museum of History and other museums but the Frick tops them all for me. It's not as big as the others but it does what it does every well. Henry Clay Frick created an incredible building to show art in. I regularly spend as much time looking at the architecture and interior of the Frick as I do on the individual pieces in the collection. And the fountain area, which used to be where cars pulled up when the home was built, is my favorite indoor place in NYC. I can sit there for hours and read or just take in my surroundings. The outdoor pond and grassy area is also a perfect addition to the museum. The Frick is quite simply an oasis.

1/17/2008

One of my favorite places to go to when I'm in NYC.  I love the low key setting - a former 19th century robber baron residence that transports you back to something out of a Henry James novel [or is that Edith Wharton, actually I've never read their books, only seen the movies ;-)] .  Its definitely not the Met, but the art collection is impressive in its own right, and you won't feel overwhelmed like you would at a larger museum.

A great way to spend the afternoon.

11/5/2007

ahh~~ *reclines and reminisces*. When you walk up the short flight to the door, and the other patrons are holding it open for you, there's a sort of camaraderie like fellow church goers entering the chapel. Already, you feel that this is the place you want to be at that moment.

After you entrust your belongings to the uberfriendly coat check staff, you are looking at an intimate garden/atrium fountain. It's the kind of location where you could see yourself spending an entire Sunday morning listening to the water fall while pensively remembering that you have stumbled upon yet another day, and this day just threatens to be beautiful.

Look to the left, look to the right, corridors. To both sides you can see the profiles of admirers looking up at presumably captivating pieces of art. Where do you go? You don't want to choose one path and leave the other unexplored!
Just when you feel that you're the only one overwhelmed by artful splendor and are silently begging for some sort of guidance, a gentleman wearing a black vest hands you a *free* audio guide.
Grip onto it and see where it takes you. Punch in the painting number, and listen and watch as you no longer spin in sensory/anticipation overload. That one piece in front of you, perhaps James Whistler's "Portrait of Mrs. Leyland", completely saturates your visual field and emotions.

An hour of this is a good dose of introspection and serenity that all new yorkers should indulge in once in a while. No, Important One, it is not just you and your agenda that roars the earth into rotation on a daily basis. The Frick Collection reminds you that there were endless others who lived before you, co exist among you, and will live after you who spend their lives capturing the beauty that surrounds them--not just the beauty within.

7/31/2008

I liked this museum, don't get me wrong, but the thing that I liked most about it was just the building itself. It's unreal to me that it used to be someone's home. The center court was also a really beautiful place. I'd love to sit and read in there, but I'm not likely to pay the admission fee just for that, at least not when there's a somewhat comparable spot or two inside the Met...

The collection was nice as well. I'm not a Renaissance art buff so it's not my favorite ever, but I did enjoy the visit. It's much more relaxing than the other museums. You feel like you can take your time and it's not so crowded.

11/18/2010

It was nice and fancy. It wasn't open a lot for us to see most of the stuff there. Paintings were well organized. Sundays 11 to 1 pay w.e. u wish or free.

1/3/2011

A great museum, housed in Mr. Fricks original home in NYC.  A great view to see, excellent collection of art, very well done.

1/2/2011

I didnt think I was a big fan of Old Masters but the Frick collection is so well put together and housed in such an amazing place it really does add to the experience. Perhaps this was vacation week. The crowds were a bit much though better than at MOMA.  There are definitely a few signature pieces like Veronese, Vermeer, Degas, Renoir not to be missed.Oh yes, the spanish draftsmen exhibit was well done too.

8/5/2007

OK, as hard as I try to be classy, I can't believe nobody has said this yet:

The Frick is frick-in fantastic! (wit and brilliance at my level cannot be bottled,  people)

Jokes aside, this is a fantastic place. It reminds me of the Musee Jacquemart-Andre in Paris, from the unimposing entrance, to the sweeping staircase in the foyer, to finally the beautiful courtyard. I love seeing art in this format - in it's 'natural setting', so to speak. To me, this is  much more manageable and less intimidating than a place like The Met.

And I was able to feed my ongoing infatuation with Vermeer by seeing TWO here! That was amazing. The library was my favorite room - I was checking out all the books - the best was 'The Book of Wealth', which Frick kept in the center table, and which he was featured in. I love that.

This is a great place to spend an hour or two on a weekend. Oh and don't miss out on the teeny tiny Limoges gallery - I don't think I've ever seen blue that color before.

7/7/2007

Three Vermeers!  Not many museums have that (only 35 Vermeers are known to exist)..and the nice calming atmosphere of one's mansion.  Ah, to be rich.  

Pay what you wish Sundays from 11am to 1pm.   My only  issue is one of the rooms sometimes gets too much light, which reflects off some of the paintings making them hard to view.

4/7/2010

What a beautiful property this is!! I can't believe I've been to NYC so many times and have never seen this place!! While walking through each room, it made me think what it was like to have the family really live there.   It's nice to see that they kept this place where it is without tearing it down and building a high rise there!! What a waste it would be.  I can't wait to go back again!!

2/25/2010

i went to the frick collection to see the recently renovated exhibit. it was amazing to see how a coat of new paint really changed the way paintings look.

it was a pretty short visit to the museum, mostly to view the few paintings. i also stopped by to see the renoir and this hans holbien the younger's painting.

worth a quick stop.  just a note, no kids allowed under 10 (maybe even 12)

times visited: 4
time in museum: 20 minutes
overall: A-

1/27/2008

Such a great, manageable gallery/set of period rooms. I have a one hour attention span for culture, sorry but that's how it is. And Frisk is perfect (like Morgan Pierpont).
Dont go any time after  5 as the staff become rude and pushy trying to get their arses outa there on the dot of 6. beware!

11/30/2008

I don't like museums half as much as most people like museums. I've been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art a few times and I enjoyed that. MoMa is nice but I prefer their store better.

The Whitney? Gah. Blech. Ugh.

The Frick Collection has something for people of all ages which most museums do not. The fact that the building itself used to be a home to a multi-millionaire and uppity New Yorker at one point is in itself a cool factor.

As you go through the building and wonder where Frick had dinner with his despicably rich guests and what kinds of comments passed the rooms of the grand halls, you are mesmerized by the amount of art this man collected.

Some of the pieces are very great to see because they're of artists that novices like me would have heard of. But I'm more about just being open to all pieces no matter who painted them. So, this collection offers something for the novice and the expert alike. That is why it's fun.

Suggestion to the Frick Collection: devise a plan that would turn the entire museum into a theme park of sorts--an interactive, "magical", secret lair, hidden staircase, whodunnit mystery type of place.

It also doesn't hurt that the Frick collection is right across Central Park and great for a nice walk after you tour the premises.

9/11/2007

Admission is pay-what-you-wish on Sundays 11am-1pm. There was no queue when we walked in a little before 1pm last Sunday.  

If you easily tire of landscapes and portraits, this might not be for you. But the Frick has some of European painting's greatest hits, including  El Grecos, Goyas, Turners, and  three stunning, intimate Vermeers.

My favorites, oddly enough, were the paintings that featured fur. They looked so soft I wanted to reach out and pet them: Hans Holbein the Younger's Sir Thomas More collections.frick.org/Ob…  , Rembrandt's Nicolaes Ruts collections.frick.org/Ob…  , Titian's Portrait of a Man in a Red Cap collections.frick.org/Ob…  , and Vermeer's Mistress and Maid   collections.frick.org/Ob…

Admission price comes with an informative audio tour: It was interesting to learn, for example, that the subject of this pretty portrait had an affair with Lord Horatio Nelson collections.frick.org/Ob…  (and she also had such a cute dog!)

6/27/2010

My favorite museum in NYC. Personal and with one if the better self guided tours I've used. Staff is helpful and know a lot! Make sure to check out the store as well, they have some worthy books

1/22/2009 Updated review

The Frick. A small glimpse into the gilded age of old New York. Henry Clay Frick, business partner of Andrew Carnegie, spent a lifetime amassing one of Americas greatest private collections. Mr Frick competed furiously with European royalty to obtain as many "Old Masters" as possible. His discerning eye and deep pockets have left New York with a collection to be proud of. A jewel among rhinestones. The following is a brief list of artists and their paintings to pay special attention to during your visit.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
    Comtesse d'Haussonville
          (My personal favorite, delicate, alluring, and masterfully painted)
Giovanni Bellini
    St. Francis in the Desert
Bronzino
    Lodovico Capponi
Piero della Francesca
    Piero's greatest work, The Resurrection, in the small town of Sansepolcro, Italy , has often been described as the most beautiful picture in the world. These relatively minor works, while not grand in scale are a must see. Piero was not only a master painter and frescoist, but a mathematician who revolutionized the use of perspective thereby laying the foundation for the Renaissance masters to follow.
    Augustinian Monk
    St. John the Evangelist
    The Crucifixion
    Augustinian Nun
Titian
    Portrait of a Man in a Red Cap
Paolo Veronese
    The Choice Between Virtue and Vice
    Wisdom and Strength
Goya
    The Forge (a tour de force of power)
Velázquez
    King Philip IV of Spain
El Greco
    Purification of the Temple
Frans Hals
     Portrait of a Painter
Rembrandt
    Self-Portrait
Johannes Vermeer
     Mistress and Maid
     Girl Interrupted at Her Music
     Officer and Laughing Girl
Hans Holbein
    Sir Thomas More
    Thomas Cromwell
Anthony Van Dyck
    James, Seventh Earl of Derby, His Lady and Child
Gerard David
     The Deposition
Jan van Eyck
    Virgin and Child, with Saints and Donor
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
    The Three Soldiers
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
    Harmony in Pink and Grey: Portrait of Lady Meux

This list in no way encompasses the entire collection of treasures, but be sure to take an extra moment to view and appreciate these great works. I have left the Gainsborough's off  the list because they are all great and too numerous to list. Enjoy a leisurely day at the Frick, a true gem of New York.

8/26/2009

actually this is a pretty darn cute museum....the atrium is the best place to chill if you have a good book....it's somebody's goddamn house ...some frick dude...a rich guy from like the middle ages (ok i exaggerate...more like early 20th century) who had some grand taste in art...hmmmmm i wonder what else went down in his crib... heh... must have a lot of history...i'm thinkin' a good murder mystery...anyway this is my frick(in) review.

frick.org

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From Wikepedia : QUOTE :
' According[1] to Stan Lee, who co-created the Avengers:

" There was a mansion called the Frick Museum that I used to walk past. I sort of modeled Avengers Mansion after that. Beautiful, big, so impressive building, right on Fifth Avenue. "

In real life, 890 Fifth Avenue is 1 East 70th Street, the location of the Frick Collection. The Frick's building is, indeed, a city block-sized former family home much like Avengers Mansion. ' UNQUOTE

+++++++++++++++++++++++++interrestinggggg no?

4/22/2007

Recommended for:  Everyone!

Collection 5, Oooooooh factor 6.

The Frick is an amazing museum.  It is my second favorite museum in the city.  Formerly the mansion of Frick, a steel tycoon during the industrial revolution, this place has kept is "home" feel while accenting its incredible art/sculpture collection.  

There are a few highlights to this place aside from their art library.  First, is the overall feel.  Its one thing to go to a museum, and being in a "museum" setting, but it is an entirely other feeling to be in an estate, and enjoy the "art" the way an owner would enjoy it.  Get the feeling for those moments, that this is your house and you are enjoying your art.

The second, and a big thing in my heart is the garden court.  Ever since I came here I had always told myself if I ever get a house, I'm building a garden court.  This place is tranquility in the midst of the museum.  Relax, look at the pond and then continue enjoying the ambiance that this place exudes.

Extra super secret bonus - you can rent out the garden court!!!  Sure it would be a shi-shi party, but just think of all the other special/romantic things you could do here...

Art lovers rejoice, this is one place to see and experience art in a setting that is homey yet grand and luxurious.  

Sean Approved:  Yes, and Yes!

1/4/2007

A delightful way to spend a cold grey Saturday afternoon.  I went with a particularly art history inclined friend to see the new Cimabues they had recently put on display.  Clearly, I had no idea who Cimabue was before this fateful day, but I jumped at the chance to visit a museum I had not previously seen.

And what a glorious museum it is - worth the price of admission just to see the house itself, but the collection is quite stunning.  A little random, but I think it adds to the whole "oh, I'm viewing someone's private art collection" feel.  A Vermeer here, a Manet there; a Beliini in this room, a Turner in that.  I also love that it can be done in about an hour, unlike, say, the Met which can't be done in a decade, or the Guggenheim which forces you to take so many breaks from the dizziness that ultimately ensures when visiting.  I'll surely be back if anything new pops up.

8/2/2010

The Frick museum is the nicest museum I have been to in the city.  For art lovers, the works here could easily rank among the best at the met, but they are presented in a stunning location that gives a fascinating glimpse into a gilded age Manhattan.  $18 for adults is a bit steep, but they do give a free audio guide, and the $5 student rate is unbeatable.

7/31/2009

It's an amazing collection but...........

.....don't get me wrong this is amazing piece of museum theatre that everyone who finds themselves in NYC should visit. It was however more an insight into the desire of one man to recreate something of a personal fantasy. Perhaps it doesn't matter but for me the history is as important as the aesthetics but here the aesthetics swamp the history. This house although amazing in its craft and design is essentialy very expensive themed environment for a private art collection. The theme is English aristocracy with a dose of Rococo and like most themed environments is not what it appears to be. Although I was impressed by the detail and the beauty of the building, it's 1914 reality meant I felt uneasy with it faux historical pretenses. With a mix of styles and a Gallery built into Frick's home this was an expression of a man who had achieved enormous wealth but seemed to desire to be old money and so created a history and legacy in one act. That said the art contained in this museum is well worth the visit. Again it's in the most part one mans selection and perhaps a little sentimental, verging on chocolate box, for my tastes.
The MET it is not and does not compare. Its more an eccentric NY art oddity.

Updated

I'm struggling with this review. My above review is a diplomatic one but my feelings about this are more extreme. For me this collection and Frick's home and his collection represents some things I don't like. He was an extremely ruthless man, his henchmen put down a strike killing 7 men. He accrued his wealth at any cost and with little or no social conscience.  His home is a bizarre and distasteful expression of wealth. The Museum remains essentially a legacy and tribute to the man and unlike other museums it hasn't dealt with it's past and got honest. No new cutorial interpretation for our times. His legacy should be challenged. The art deserves more.

I also understand most art is collected at some cost to any social conscience and often 'stolen' but my point here is honesty and historical context of museums.

6/1/2010

I'm less into the periods represented, but the space is lovely & if you enjoy art you should make a point to go, at least once.

10/2/2009

Beautiful.  See the movie.  Read the titles of the books in the library, this alone is worth a visit.  I recommend using the audio headsets, so cool to hear the history of so many things in the home.

2/23/2008

The first time I went to this museum was to see the "English Fairy Art" exhibit, which I truly enjoyed (got to see "Fairy Feller's Master Stroke" -- any Queen fan is going to know about that one!).

But what I also found is that this place has curators who really know how to hang art in interesting ways -- there were several Whistler paintings hung in juxtaposition that took my breath away (and once I pointed it out to some other museum-goers, they were blown away as well).  I love the portraiture they have in their collection!

Finally, the Frick has another of my favorite "quiet spots" in New York (guess I need to do a list for those!) -- the center Atrium, with all the plants and fountain.  It's amazingly peaceful to sit on a bench, lost in the greenery with the sound of water around you.

Give it a try!

7/20/2007

I finally returned today, after many years.

The best part for me was that there are now free audio phones given out for many of the art works. You press a button and hear about the work before you. There's also a short film, which we missed.

After a few hours, there was still art to be seen. I wish I could see the former living quarters. Nice shop, too.

A place to return to and savor as one matures.

6/27/2009

We went to the Frick Collection for the first time today. I don't know why we'd never thought to go before, but it was a really lovely way to spend a quiet Saturday afternoon. The collection is astounding! To think that one man owned all those pieces, and had them in his home! The home itself was indescribable. The atrium is a really beautiful place to sit and relax. I will make it a point to go back for a visit.

7/23/2010

Lovely museum that no one should miss.

1/3/2007

I went here for a classical piano recital.  It was sold out and I had no ticket; fortunately they let people sit outside the performance hall in their indoor garden - for free!  I was able to hear pretty much everything, and the garden is beautiful, with flowers, trees, fountains, and statues.  I think they have the same policy for all concerts, which is very cool of them.  What an unusual concept in NYC: free seats and even the playbill.

After my fabulous experience and reading these great reviews, I'll have to go and explore the rest of the Frick!

11/18/2009

This place is quaint and charming.  There is a small collection in someone's HOME and it just feels as though you are getting privileged glimpses in someone's Upper East Side mansion while they are out for a stroll and a moving picture... or something like that.  It's definitely worth a visit uptown.  Check to see what the special exhibits are because some of them are pretty special.

3/10/2009

Keep in mind, this was a home.  The building was intriguing.   Imagine living in this mansion.  Also enjoyed Whistler.

6/15/2009

Such a special museum.  I love that the Frick exhibits a modestly sized collection of exquisitely curated pieces. Sometimes you just don't feel like an all day visit to the Met, but instead you'd like to be inspired by beautiful spaces, artwork and the solarium.  Another treat is the beauty of the rooms themselves. I could spend an hour dreaming of girly fantasies in the Fragonard room. Many a perfect afternoon have been capped with a visit to the Frick.