The Frick is a must museum in NYC

The Frick Collection at the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 70th Street, across from Central Park in New York City/By Patricia Leslie

When in New York, see how the one percenters used to live (and still do!) in the early 20th century by visiting a Beaux Arts mansion built in 1913-14 by Henry Clay Frick. 

After Mr. Frick and his wife, Adelaide, died in 1919 and 1931, respectively, their home and vast Frick Art Collection opened to the public in 1935, per the Frick will.

Last year Wikipedia estimated the collection to number about 1,800 pieces.

The interior courtyard, visible from several galleries, is the only place at the Frick where the public is permitted to take pictures/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.

Last year's re-opening unveiled the second floor to the public with a special gallery dedicated to Francois Boucher’s panels as they hung during the Fricks’ residency.

The layout of the former residence is preserved.

Inside the opulence is 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 (upper left), and at times they took playful names, such as the hérisson (hedgehog) style (top right).  (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, and finally, "half-mourning" 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.

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Get on the bus to NYC and Whitney's Biennial!

At the 2026 Whitney Biennial, guests pondered Gabriela Ruiz's Homo Machina (Human Machine, a.k.a. Gay Machine), 2026, "a life-size digital console that functions as a self-portrait," according to the wall label/Patricia Leslie, photo

Ali Eyal, detail of Look Where I Took You, 2026 at the 2026 Whitney Biennial, painted from artist's memory of his family's last trip to Baghdad's largest amusement park before the family left Iraq at the start of the 2003 war, according to the wall label. My second favorite of the show, for the color, the subject, the movement, the grasp of the horror of war, for the human shapes /Patricia Leslie, photo

It's the show of shows hosted every other year to exhibit what contemporary artists are making now, what they're thinking, what they're doing.

One floor of Whitney's world renowned display will close August 23, but two more floors will remain open until September 7 and October 12.  

Pictured here are the works I found the most fascinating.

Young Joon Kwak, Divine Dance of Soft Revolt, 2024, accompanied by an audio, inviting viewers to find themselves in the mirrored surfaces, at the 2026 Whitney Biennial/Patricia Leslie, photo

Detail of Agosto Machado's Ethyl (Altar),  2024 at the 2026 Whitney Biennial, of materials he collected as caregiver and "unofficial activist" for many of his peers at the height of New York's AIDS crisis.  The components express "his gratitude for the love and generosity of his queer community," according to the wall label/Patricia Leslie, photo

Malcolm Peacock, Five of them were hers and she carved shelters with windows into the backs of their skulls, 2024  is a sculptural interpretation of a coastal redwood tree with texts from autobiographies of Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X, at the 2026 Whitney Biennial/Patricia Leslie, photo

It seems rather tame this year especially when compared to the shock my son, then age 12, and I experienced way back in 1997 when we ventured in the doors to be blown away by the Biennial on several floors of the Whitney's home at the time, the Breuer building, in Manhattan's Upper East Side.

It was a stunner, all right. 

Whatever and whenever, any opportunity to go to the Big Apple when the Biennial is playing is a must.   

At the 2026 Whitney Biennial, Anna Tsouhlarakis's She Must Be A Matriarch, 2023 "offers an irreverent image of a female warrior armed with a mix of the mythical, the mundane, and the humorous," according to the wall label/Patricia Leslie, photo

David L. Johnson's Rules, 2024-ongoing, was my favorite at the 2026 Whitney Biennial.  Signs from privately-owned public spaces (POPS) began popping up in 1961 after a zoning resolution permitted developers to develop taller buildings in NYC  in exchange for creating "nearby park-like" spaces for public use, developers able to install their own rules about land use/Patricia Leslie, photo

More of David L. Johnson's Rules, 2024-ongoing at the 2026 Whitney Biennial/Patricia Leslie, photo

More of David L. Johnson's Rules, 2024-ongoing at the 2026 Whitney Biennial/Patricia Leslie, photo

This year's presentation features the works of 56 artists who paint, sculpt, perform, make films and digital art. Mother and daughter, Carmen de Monteflores, age 92 (the oldest in the bunch), and daughter, conceptual artist Andrea Fraser, 60, are two of the them. 

Although the show usually includes American artists only, this year some foreign artists with a U.S. connection are included. 

Most of the artists are millennials (born 1981-1996)  and most live in (surprise!) New York or California.

Isabelle Frances McGuire's Satan in America and Other Invisible Evils: Experiments in Public Sculpture, 2026 draws on mythical American history scenes from the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts to Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Kentucky, says the label at the 2026 Whitney Biennial/Patricia Leslie, photo

The other side of Isabelle Frances McGuire's Satan in America and Other Invisible Evils: Experiments in Public Sculpture, 2026, the right side, I think, to represent Salem villagers modeled from the video game, Doom/Patricia Leslie, photo

A view of the Hudson River from a Whitney stairwell,  looking towards New Jersey/Patricia Leslie, photo

The New York Times says the curators, Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer, spent a year traveling and visiting more than 300 studios.  

 A 500-page catalog is available for $50 ($45, members). 

What:  The Whitney Biennial 2026

When:  Now through Aug. 23, 2026 and a partial display through Oct. 10, 2026. 

Daily: 10:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. except on Fridays, 'til 10 p.m.

Where:  The Whitney Museum of American Art, 

99 Gansevoort St., NY, NY 10014

How much:  Free Friday night admission from 5 - 10 pm and second Sundays, as are every day admission for all those 25 and under, but advance tickets are required. Limited admissions.

Military members and veterans are admitted at no charge and tickets for the disabled are $18 and seniors, $24.  All others, $30.

For more information: See the website or call 212-570-3614.

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Highly recommended, the book and audio: 'Tanqueray'

 

This is a great audio to listen to (read by the author) and the book has fascinating photos to see, both editions, available at libraries. 

 

 

In 2019 a blogger, Brandon Stanton whose series, Humans of New York was followed by millions, was attracted to an unusually dressed woman in fancy gear

along the streets of Chelsea in New York City. 

Mr. Stanton stopped for a chat which led to a friendship which led to a column in his series, which led to the book Tanqueray, the expose of Stephanie Johnson’s life and one of her last life's chapters before a stroke felled her last October at age 81. 

Her obituary led me to the audio and book.

 

Ms. Johnson was a famous burlesque dancer in the Big Apple in the 1960s and 70s, and she lays it all out straight, everything, rather like a rip-roaring escapade of edgy New York life, kinda gangster style, a strip club and more (a life most of us only hear or read about and maybe, wish we’d experienced a trifle of it?).

 

She was a self-made woman whose mother threw her out when Ms. Johnson was 17 and pregnant.  On her own, she made her way from Albany, N.Y.  to New York where she built her reputation.

 

Her name “Tanqueray” came from a bottle of gin sitting near a conversation. 

Mr. Stanton helped her write her bio in which she speaks in highly entertaining fashion (of which she was an excellent seamstress, attending classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology, making sparkly costumes for herself and many others).  

She had lots of boyfriends, was married twice and prided herself on not sleeping around or drinking.  She had two sons and gave up her daughter for adoption. The book Mr. Stanton wrote of their many conversations drew millions of readers and helped restore her relationship with an estranged son.

She was lonely, very, very lonely.

 

When serious illness struck, Mr. Stanton spearheaded a GoFundMe campaign for Ms. Johnson which produced about $2.6 million for her medical needs and solved her money worries. Leftover money went to the Association to Benefit Children.  

 

Ms. Johnson and Mr. Stanton speak in the postscript, not to miss!

 

It’s a short 192 pages, hard to put down; a (very) fast read and wow!  I want to see this movie.

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Highly recommended: 'Your Table Is Ready'

Drugs, sex, rock ‘n’ roll… And would you like some food with that? 

That pretty well sums up the first half of Your Table Is Ready by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina.

If you can get past the initial soft porn (if that turns you off or on), this is one fascinating, fun book to read, especially if you are a New Yorker and you eat. 

Even if you're not a New Yorker, it's still a good read.

It's behind-the-scenes descriptions of what goes on at New York's fanciest restaurants, many managed and run by the author who had first-hand experience how they serve 'em up and save the best seats for the most money and cave to the reviewers.  

Everyone knows what the reviewers look like, right?  You'd better.  Stand guard, everyone, and turn on your earbuds for the first alert..err, warning:  They are here!

Who knew there was so much sex in restaurants? Only in New York City? I kept plugging away and gave it a few more pages before my appetite was whet. 

Surprise! Advance money makes a difference! Slip the maître d' an easy $100 bill (in the 80s and 90s; better up the ante now) and sit at whatever grand table they seat you. 

Who cares about reservations when it comes to money?  

The most famous arrived, like the hucksters Cecchi-Azzolina knew: Ivanka Trump, Trump, the mob, the FBI and more.

Many times I laughed out loud at this fast-paced, detailed description of what's happening behind the bar. 

Cecchi-Azzolina writes that 98 percent of the guests are fine, but it's the other two percent that "we in the business hate."  

Where do you stand?

Sex drugs and maybe some food, too, at New York's finest are what it's all about. Read it and eat!

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In Memoriam: Tina Turner, 1939-2023

 

The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, April 2, 2022/By Patricia Leslie

Kayla Davion was Tina Turner in The Tina Turner Musical at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City, April 2, 2022/By Patricia Leslie

Kayla Davion was Tina Turner in The Tina Turner Musical at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City, April 2, 2022/By Patricia Leslie

Kayla Davion was Tina Turner in The Tina Turner Musical at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City, April 2, 2022/By Patricia Leslie

Kayla Davion was Tina Turner in The Tina Turner Musical at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City, April 2, 2022/By Patricia Leslie

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'Michael Jackson' is alive and onstage in New York City!

From the  MJ  playbill, 2022

Dynamite!  

Myles Frost must win the Tony!

Electric! 

On fire! 

I swear Michael Jackson had "returned" from the dead for a concert with all his hits!

The audience's screaming and yelling were louder than any theatre performance I've ever attended, but there was no problem hearing the show.

MJ The Musical at the Neil Simon Theatre, New York City, April 1, 2022/Photo by Patricia Leslie

It was the best theatre performance I've seen and with a few decades of experience, I've seen one or two.

Attention, Michael Jackson fans: Yes, it's worth a trip to New York City from Washington, D.C., and I may go again. You will not be disappointed.

From MJ The Musical at the Neil Simon Theatre, New York City, April 1, 2022/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Times Square, New York City, April 1, 2022/Photo by Patricia Leslie 

The music is fantastic!

The dancing is fantastic!

The lighting is fantastic!

Did I leave anything out?

The costumes! They're fantastic, too!

Some have pooh-poohed: "But he was a pervert." 

I was not going to the show to condone what he did. I was going to the show for the music!  Music!  Music! And it may take me there again. 

Had I not had a ticket for Tina the next night (which was almost as good, but hurry!  Closing August 14), I would have paid $175 to see MJ  The Musical again. (Besides, Tina is coming to the National in October for almost three weeks. Must see!)

Kayla Davion was Tina at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City, April 2, 2022/Photo by Patricia Leslie

MJ will last for years (if Mr. Frost can hold out), and the actress from The Prom  road show, who sat beside me, said he came out of nowhere to get the role.

He taught himself how to sing;

he taught himself how to dance;

and he taught himself how to be Michael.

You may think Michael Jackson is dead. I tell you he's back and on stage every night at Neil Simon.

Write if I am wrong.

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Get on the bus for 'Hello, Dolly!'

                                        Bette Midler in Hello, Dolly!/New York Lifestyles Magazine

Dear Theatre Fans,

Get on the bus*, even for a day, to New York City to see Bette Midler in Hello, Dolly! before she leaves the show in January.

The Divine Miss M is 71 which just goes to show you how young 70 is. (Speak for yourself.)

Hello, Dolly! is Ms. Midler's first leading role in a Broadway musical which earned her this year's Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. The show won three more Tonys (Best Revival of a Musical, Costume Design, and Gavin Creel won for Best Featured Actor in a Musical). It was nominated for six more.

Fans, it happened one night in New York (and maybe, more), that some audience members stood up in their seats, cheered, and applauded the performance in the middle of the show.  More than once.  Several times.  That was a first for me. 

I've read Bette Midler's replacement, Donna Murphy, is fabulous, and congrats to Ms. Murphy, but, right now (save Tuesdays and some other dates) it's the Divine Miss M whose spell over the audience is unmistakable. She transmits her magic across the stage and envelopes the spellbound in her rapture. 
  
She loves the role. And so do her fellow actors. The electrical connection between performers and guests is undeniable. Everyone has a good time and joins the celebration, but I don't want to go overboard.

When the orchestra started up, I knew the music must be a recording since the sounds were too perfect for live.  Wrong.  Conductor Andy Einhorn elicits magnificent production by all. But, lest I exaggerate.

Speaking of costumes: Hold your breath for colors and design au spectaculaire.  (Costume designer Santo Loquasto won the Tony.) Folks, it's the 1890s with colors and luxurious costumes to admire. Hats, yellow suits, orange suits, green, you name it.  So many to see!  So many dancers, perfectly in sync (by Warren Carlyle). 

Here's how the Guide to Musical Theatre describes the outfits (which includes orange and yellow suits worn by men!)  

Turn of the century: New York City and Yonkers. Bright, cartoon costumes of the dress and styles of the period. (Ruffled dresses, large hats, parasols, striped pants, vests, spats, waistcoats), shopkeeper smocks, horse costume, green waiter suits with white aprons, floor-length evening dresses, lodge uniform, tights, high-button shoes, parade costumes (police, sports club, dance-hall girls, opera Association etc.), male formal suit and evening cape, "Hello, Dolly" evening dress, sailor dress, traveling clothes

On her website Bette Midler says: “I just want to say that revival is an interesting word. It means that something is near death and it’s been brought back to life. Hello, Dolly! never really went away. It has been here all along. It’s in our DNA. It’s optimism, it’s democracy, it’s color, it’s love of life. It’s hilarity. This is a classic. Come and see it. It’s not just me! This has the ability to life your spirits in these terrible, terrible times.”

More applause is due Ms. Midler for her sponsorship of charities and adoption of highways on the east and west coasts for the Adopt-A-Highway project.


Thank you, Bette Midler and Director Jerry Zaks!

(*My fav bus line is the Vamoose Gold.)

Tickets are here and other places. (Check the Web.)  Better hurry.  Several dates are sold out.

When:  Matinees at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Tuesday and Thursday night shows begin at 7 p.m.  Other nights, 8 p.m.  No shows on Mondays and most Sunday eves.  Remember, Ms. Midler does not perform on Tuesday and some other nights. 

Where:  Sam S. Shubert Theatre, 225 W. 44th St., New York City, 10036


Duration:  2 hours and 35 minutes, one intermission 

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