A New House in New York

Between 1913 and 1914, Frick built a new house on Fifth Avenue, overlooking Central Park. Architect Thomas Hastings designed a Neoclassical-style mansion. The cost of the building project came to almost five million dollars. Frick moved into the house with his family and his collection. The most important area was the ground floor, where most of his paintings hung and where there was also a separate paintings gallery, the West Gallery. It was always Frick’s intention that his house would one day open as a museum.

A New Museum

It was only after the death of Frick’s wife Adelaide in 1931 that the house could become a museum. But first the building had to be adapted for its new public function. Architect John Russell Pope added various spaces, including the Oval Room, the East Gallery and the covered inner courtyard, the Garden Court. The Frick Collection finally opened its doors to the public in December 1935.

The Frick Collection

The Frick Collection is a favourite for many people. Visitors are able to enjoy masterpieces from the history of art in a setting that feels very different from a traditional museum. The magnificent rooms still feel lived-in, as though the Fricks might return from a European trip at any moment. The dining room is filled with eighteenth-century English portraits. The sitting room contains masterpieces by Holbein, El Greco and Titian. This is what makes the museum so unique.

Girl in New York

The Frick Collection and the Mauritshuis have much in common. Both are small museums with exceptional collections, located in buildings that have an intimate atmosphere. The museums also often work together. In 2013-2014, during the extension of the Mauritshuis, the Frick Collection hosted an exhibition of fifteen paintings from The Hague, including Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’. With 250,000 visitors, it was The Frick Collection’s most popular exhibition ever.