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.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Native Women artists at the Renwick and the Frist

This is a photograph of the outside poster of the exhibition by Native Women artists.at the Renwick Gallery.in Washington, D.C.

Marie Watt, Seneca Nation of Indians, Blanket Stories: Three Sisters, Four Pelts, Sky Woman, Cousin Rose, and All My Relations, 2007, Seattle Art Museum, General Acquisition Fund, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum,
To the left is Hummingbird Copper Dress, 1989 by Dorothy Grant (Haida) with Robert Davidson (Haida/Tlingit) at the Renwick Gallery/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Marie Watt, Seneca Nation of Indians, Blanket Stories: Three Sisters, Four Pelts, Sky Woman, Cousin Rose, and All My Relations, 2007, Seattle Art Museum, General Acquisition Fund, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum and, to the right, Dorothy Grant (Haida) with Robert Davidson (Haida/Tlingit), Hummingbird Copper Dress, 1989, wool, Denver Art Museum Collection: Native Arts acquisition fund, 2010 at the Renwick Gallery/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Marie Watt, Seneca Nation of Indians, Blanket Stories: Three Sisters, Four Pelts, Sky Woman, Cousin Rose, and All My Relations, 2007, Seattle Art Museum, General Acquisition Fund,in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum, at the Frist Art Museum/Photo by Patricia Leslie  

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Navajo artist, Second phase chief blanket, c. 1880, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Gift of Elissa and Paul Cahn, These blankets are valued today about as much as they were by the Navajo nation in the late 19th centuryl. They were often worn by chiefs and their wives/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Jamie Okuma (Luiseño/Shoshone-Bannock), Adaptation II, 2012, shoes designed by Christian Louboutin, leather, glass beads, porcupine quills, sterling silver cones, brass sequins, chicken feathers, cloth, deer rawhide, and buckskin, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Bequest of Virginia Doneghy

Label copy at the Renwick (this photo taken at the Frist) said Jamie Okuma began making "extravagant attire in which to attend powwows" leading to her " successful career creating wearable art." Her heels are her "way of reimaging Native couture." She planned a career in the fashion industry but her success as a beadworker took her in a different direction/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Apsáalooke (Crow) artist, Dress, ca. 1930, cotton, bead, bone, skin, wool, and colorant, Denver Art Museum Collection: The L. D. and Ruth Bax Collection,

From the label copy: "Elk-tooth dresses like this one are important symbols of prestige for Apsáalooke women. Because they can have as many as 500 elk teeth meticulously sewn into the bodice, and because the maker only uses the two canine teeth of the bull elk, a dress like this reflects not only a woman’s sewing skills, but, as importantly, her male family members’ hunting prowess. Today, few elk-tooth dresses are made entirely from real teeth—there are acceptable commercial substitutions—but the dress endures as an object of significance and cultural pride."/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Detail of Jolene Richard, Tuscarora, b. 1956 ...the sky is darkening ..., 2018, courtesy of the artist with special thanks to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Tuscarora women made beadwork of passenger pigeons  which were hunted to extinction by1902, according to the label copy. Beadwork by Tuscarora women helped them survive when they were forced to leave their homes in North Carolina in the early 18th century/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Jolene Richard, Tuscarora, b. 1956 ...the sky is darkening ..., 2018, courtesy of the artist with special thanks to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Apsaalooke (Crow), Infant Boy's Coat, c. 1890, buckskin, cloth, glass beads, sinew, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, pictured at the Renwick with Hide Cradleboard, c. 1890 by a Kiowa artist, attributed to Tahdo Ahtone, 1879-1961, Denver Museum of Nature and Science. By riding in the cradleboard upright, the child could absorb more of her language and culture/Photo by Patricia Leslie

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Apsaalooke (Crow), Infant Boy's Coat, c. 1890, buckskin, cloth, glass beads, sinew, Denver Museum of Nature and Science. At the Frist/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Hide Cradleboard, c. 1890 by a Kiowa artist, attributed to Tahdo Ahtone, 1879-1961, Denver Museum of Nature and Science.at the Frist/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Keri Ataumbi (Kiowa/Comanche) and Jamie Okuma (Luiseño/Shoshone-Bannock), Adornment: Iconic Perceptions, 2014, antique glass, 24-karat electroplated beads, buckskin, 18-karat yellow gold, sterling silver, wampum shell, freshwater pearls, rose and brilliant-cut diamonds and diamond beads, diamond briolettes, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Gift of funds from The Duncan and Nivin MacMillan Foundation/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The artists pay tribute to Pocahontas, drawing inspiration from 17th century engravings by Simon van de Passe and Thomas Sully’s classic 1852 painting,

 

Anita Fields, Osage, b. 1951, with her coat entitled It's In Our DNA, It's Who We Are, 2018, Minneapolis Institute of Art. At the Renwick Gallery, Feb. 20, 2020.  Printed inside the coat is the Treaty of 1808 when the Osage Indians ceded almost 2.5 million acres including the state of Arkansas and almost all of Missouri to the U.S. government for cash/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Anita Fields, Osage, b. 1951, It's In Our DNA, It's Who We Are, 2018, Minneapolis Institute of Art, at the Frist Art Museum/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Joan Hill (Muskogee Creek and Cherokee), Women’s Voices at the Council, 1990, acrylic on canvas, Gift of the artist on behalf of the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women, 1990, Oklahoma State Art Collection, courtesy of the Oklahoma Arts Council.

From the label copy: "Women’s Voices at the Council, part of a series that Joan Hill began in 1971 during the Vietnam War (1965–75), depicts multiple generations of Native women and the power they hold to decide between war and peace. Hill focuses attention on essential elements of women’s regalia including turtle shell leggings, and she presents Muskogee/Cherokee cultural aesthetics, symbols, and meanings. She juxtaposes the white background, a Cherokee symbol of peace, with a red disk, possibly symbolizing a threat of war."

This was my second favorite of the show. The contrasts, the colors, the mixture of generations, their positions, the silhouettes, and the solemnity of the time. While the women discuss, the men (to the left) prepare to battle. Leave it to the women to bring peace!
 
Four of the artists at the Renwick Gallery, Feb. 20, 2020. In the white shirt is Anita Fields and to her left is Kelly Church/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Kelly Church (Ottawa/Pottawatomi) with her Sustaining Traditions—Digital Memories, 2018, at the Renwick, Feb. 20, 2020. Black ash, sweetgrass, Rit dye, copper, vial EAB, and flash drive with black ash teachings/Photo by Patricia Leslie


According to the label copy: "The green in this basket represents the emerald ash borer. This beautiful insect has destroyed ash trees, essential to making ash baskets, throughout the Upper Midwest. Placed within this basket, which is shaped like a Fabergé egg is a flash drive containing what Kelly Church describes as 'all the teachings of the past, all of the things happening today, and all of the things we need to do in the future to sustain this tradition [basket weaving].'”

 The Frist Art Museum, Dec. 23, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Marguerite Vincent Lawinonkie Wendat (Huron), Moccasins, 1838/1847-1854, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY, Gift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Lou-ann Neel, b. 1963, Childhood, 2013. According to the label, these are miniature photographs of the artist and 3,000 other children who were removed from their Native homes and sent to residential schools where they were forced to assimilate into Euro-American culture. All together, the images comprise the artist's nephew, Daniel (below) in regalia for his naming ceremony.  Ms. Neel's work was exhibited at the Frist only.

Lou-ann Neel, b. 1963, Childhood, 2013. The artist's nephew, Daniel.  (See description above.)

Lou-ann Neel, b. 1963, Childhood, 2013, Frist/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Dana Claxton, b. 1959, Buffalo Bone China, 1997, video and mixed media, collection of the MacKenzie Art Gallery. In the 1860s the U.S. government began killing 30 million buffalo to drive Natives onto reservations.  It took 30 years to kill almost 30 million buffalo, leaving only 493. Europeans used their bones to make fine china. The video features the artist smashing buffalo bone china, paying tribute to the power of the buffalo and the endurance of the Natives.  In the center are pieces of the broken white china. At the Frist only/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 See description above/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Jennie Ross Cobb, Cherokee, 1881-1959, Cherokee Female Seminary Graduating Class, 1902, courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Ms. Cobb was the first known Native American woman photographer in the U.S. Her pictures contrast with the stereotypes most other photographers made of Native American women, according to the label copy.  Although the location of the seminary was not given, I believe it is the "centerpiece of Northeastern State University, located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma," as identified by Wikipedia. The white dots in the photo of the photo are reflections of overhanging lights at the Frist/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Slavey (Dene), Dog blanket, c. 1878-1900, McCord Stewart Museum. Used for warmth and "announcement" by sled drivers of teams' arrival to deliver mail, news, and supplies. Indigenous artists.today are reviving these colorful, jingle-jangle blankets/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Anishinaabe, Jingle dress and headband, c. 1900, Cass County Historical Society, Cass County Museum. Used as "healing dresses" today and yesteryear/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Osage artists, ribbon blanket (left), c. 1950 and child's ribbon-work blanket, c. 1915 which belong to Anita Fields (the blanket on the left) and Julia Karen Lookout, both of the Osage Nation. See the backs below.  At the Frist/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The backs of the children's blankets (seen above) with Anita Fields's It's In Our DNA, It's Who We Are, 2018, at the Frist/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Zoe Urness, Tlingit, b. 1984, December 5, 2016, No Spiritual Surrender, 2016, courtesy of the artist. Near a campsite at Standing Rock Reservation in the Dakotas. Thousands from around the world gathered  to protest the Dakota Pipeline designed to carry oil but a threat to lives, damaging water supplies. Although the temperature that day "had hit forty below," the artist says on the label, "I had the camera under my armpit to keep the batteries warm.  I watched this gathering of veterans of military service, from all over the nation, approaching." She moved quickly to take "a one-arm shot." 

Rather than a photograph, this looks like a still from a horror movie. The reds, the blacks, the greys and whites combine with nature.to deliver a powerful message. My Number One Favorite in the show. It is a knockout, summoning up all the power of the protestors who march towards the viewer and summon: "Join us! We shall overcome!" At the Frist.

I was lucky enough to be able to see this intriguing and wide-ranging exhibition, the first major museum exhibition devoted to art by Native Women in two cities, in Nashville at the Frist Art Museum at Christmas, and in Washington at the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery in February before coronavirus closed the show early.

Most of the pieces shown here were displayed at both museums, but the larger galleries at the Frist (it included 115 pieces; the Renwick, 82) permitted more displays of textiles, baskets, beadwork, pottery, painting, sculpture, video, apparel, and installation art with a broader visual experience for some.

Works by artists from the U.S. and Canada, from ancient times to present day, were chosen by a curatorial team led by Jill Ahlberg Yohe from the Minneapolis Institute of Art (the organizing institution) and Teri Greeves, a Kowa artist and scholar.

They worked closely with an Exhibition Advisory Board of 20 Native women skilled in mixed media who provided guidance for the show, titled Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists. It was "a radical shift in curatorial methodology," remarked Ms. Ahlberg at the Washington opening.


It is divided by three themes:  legacy, relationships, and power which together present "the unique heritage and culture of various Indian tribes and communities."

Visitors from toddlers on up were fascinated by the extraordinary presentation and differences of what their heritage means to these Native Women. 

Smithsonian American Art Museum Director Stephanie Stebich at the opening of Hearts Of Our People at the Renwick Gallery, Feb. 20, 2020/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the February opening in Washington, Smithsonian American Art Museum Director Stephanie Stebich remarked that the timing of the exhibition in Washington to fall in the centennial celebration when American women got the right to vote was not just a coincidence. 

To compare the ways the two museums assembled and displayed the art was fascinating; highly recommended whenever the chance comes along to compare the same exhibition in two different locations.

My impression that many (most?) living artists require their works to be specifically displayed, according to certain measurements and placements in galleries, was changed by this show since placements, heights, and juxtapositions varied from one place to another.

It is a shame, a shame (it bears repeating) that coronavirus will prevent many from seeing this magnificent, inspiring show. The Renwick will just have to bring it back.

Audio tours with several of the artists are found at the Renwick website. 

Most of the labels were multi-lingual with translations in the native language of the artist.
 
Grants from the Henry Luce Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities made the presentation possible.  



A catalog of the exhibition is available for $39.95. 
What: Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists 

When:  Native Women Artists is set to close at the Renwick May 17, 2020 and likely cannot be extended since it moves to the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa for viewing June 28 – September 20, 2020, The Renwick is closed by coronavirus until July 2, 2020, according to the website. It is usually open from 10 a.m.– 5:30 p.m. every day.

Where: The Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, 1661 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20006, at the White House 17th Street block, adjacent to Blair House.

Admission: No charge

Metro stations: Farragut North or Farragut West

For more information: (202) 633-7970 (recorded) or (202) 633-2850

patricialesli@gmail.com