The Frick Collection at the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 70th Street, across from Central Park in New York City/By Patricia Leslie
The Frick residence was one of New York's last Gilded Age mansions which was closed most recently from 2021-25 for renovations and expansion.
The layout of the former residence is preserved.
Inside the opulence lays the opulence (!) of many masters: Vermeer (2), Bellini, Rembrandt (his 1658 self-portrait), El Greco, Goya, Velázquez, Fragonard (repeat) Fragonard. (His Progress of Love series, displayed in multiple galleries, can honestly send one skipping up to the clouds. It took me a while to come down.)
Most of the collection is 14th - 19th century European, but it's not all painting: Sculpture and decorative arts are important pieces. The huge collection with so many famous renderings can take your breath away.
And it's not a crowded place (à la the Met, MoMA, and the Whitney), since elbowers and territorial intruders are absent. One may stand solo for several moments in front of a particularly appealing (or not-so appealing) work.
Wall labels are non-existent, but a handy mobile guide and QR code answer most questions.
When I visited the Frick earlier this year, the romantic Ruffles & Ribbons: Fashion Plates from the Time of Marie Antoinette was on view with a display of apparel from different social classes, the most outrageous (excuse, s’il vous plaît), extreme "headwear" or "headgear" or whatever you'd like to call it, but all, especially delightful.
Below are some examples:
Gallerie des modes et costumes français. 6e Cahier de Modes Françaises pour les Coeffures, despuis 1776. ca. 1778. Designer unknown, Hand-colored engraving
Frick Art Research Library; Gift of Melinda Martin Sullivan, 2016
How about some water for your ship, madam? Look closely at the upper left photo and you’ll see a frigate sailing in the woman’s “pouf,” but perhaps she served as lookout for La Junon.
From the Frick website: “Pouf of the Day”:
A pouf is a towering coiffure composed variously of wire, gauze, pomatum (a styling ointment), and often false hair mixed with the wearer's own hair. Poufs could be inspired by contemporary events, such as when the French frigate La Junon captured the British Navy's Fox in 1778 (top left image), and at times they took playful names, such as the hérisson (hedgehog) style (top right image). (For some reason, Pete Hegseth's image comes to mind.)
Gallerie des modes et costumes français. Cahier des Costumes français. Suite d'Habillemens de Femmes à la mode.
ca. 1778*
The Frick's website says this lady is an example of a working-class woman who wore expensive fashions she hoped to sell. She carries a box of goods and models a taffeta hood (to protect her "pouf"), silk mittens and a bracelet, everything available for purchase.
Gallerie des modes et costumes français. Cahier de Costumes Français. Suite d'Habillemens à la mode, en 1780.
ca. 1780*
But, where's my horse?
According to the Frick, the double-breasted redingote was the French adaptation of the full-length English riding coat, originally designed for riding horseback in the country. Its 18th century popularity reflected the French admiration for British tailoring and culture.
Gallerie des modes et costumes français. Cahier des Costumes Français. Suite d'Habillemens à la mode, en 1781.
ca. 1781*
(She may be covering up the dead.)
Frick's website says that after the death of a royal, the whole (!) nation was expected to observe the grand deuil de cour (full-court mourning)—a mandated mourning dress code—for up to a year (depending on the rank of the deceased). During that time, no colors or jewelry could be worn.
This dress code had three stages: First, one had to wear non-reflective black clothes of wool or poplin for several months (as shown above), then, clothes of black silk or satin, followed by the final stage, "half-mourning" of black and white garments. (Is that her shoe or a rat under her skirt?)
Opening Oct. 15, 2026 at the Frick is the new exhibition, Siena: The Art of Bronze, 1450–1500 (through Jan. 18, 2027) with 40+ works, many never publicly displayed outside Tuscany. It is "the first exhibition to focus on Siena as a center of artistic excellence and technical innovation in bronze sculpture during the Italian Renaissance." Louis Vitton, lead sponsor. (See other future exhibitions here.)
I didn't have nearly enough time for the Frick (only an hour) and must re-visit upon my next trip to the Big Apple.
Henry Clay Frick and his daughter, Helen, 1910, by Edmund Charles Tarbell (1862-1938)/National Portrait Gallery/Wikipedia
Just after her father's death, the Fricks’ daughter, Helen Clay Frick, founded the Frick Art Research Library, “one of the world’s top art history research centers” according to the website, which offers its collection and services to scholars, students, and the public for free.
What: The Frick Collection
When: Open every day except Tuesday, 10:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. (First Fridays until 9 p.m. with free admission. See below.) Some galleries are closed until Oct. 12, 2026 for installations.
Where: One East 70th St., NY, NY 10021. On Fifth Avenue across from Central Park.
How much: No charge for children ages 10 - 18. (Children under age 10 are not admitted.) Adults ($30), seniors and disabled ($22; free for caregiver), students ($17). Free admission for area university students. (See website.)
Pay-what-you-wish on Wednesdays, 1:30 - 5:30 p.m. with guaranteed admission for $5 and free Louis Vitton First Friday evenings (5:30 – 9 p.m.) through May, 2027, excepting January. (Free timed tickets encouraged but walk-ins, welcome.)
For more information: 212-288-0700; info@frick.org.
*Unless otherwise noted: This is designed by Pierre-Thomas Le Clerc (1740-1796) and engraved by Nicholas Dupin (1753-1805 or after). Hand-colored engraving; Frick Art Research Library, gift of Melinda Martin Sullivan, 2016.
patricialesli@gmail.com
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