Art in the Frick Collection : Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts Book

Overwhelmingly, visitors agree that The Frick Collection in New York City is one of their favorite museums in the world. The elegant Fifth Avenue mansion, built in 1914 for Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clay Frick, houses a unique assemblage of some of the choicest art to be found anywhere. In this book, Charles Ryskamp - the Director of The Frick Collection - introduces the reader to the world of Henry Clay Frick, to the evolution of his collection, as well as to the historical and aesthetic framework within which The Frick Collection attained its eminence. Then, in separate sections devoted to paintings, sculpture, and the decorative arts, written by the curatorial staff, the pages of Art in The Frick Collection offer vibrant reproductions of the famous works, with information on every piece illustrated and magnificent views of the richly furnished room where they are installed. As Sir John Pope-Hennessy has observed: "In The Frick Collection, alone of the great museums of the world, paintings and sculpture of comparable quality are shown side by side." Paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Memling, Velazquez, Constable, and Renoir hang next to some of the finest of Renaissance bronzes, marble portrait busts by such sculptors as Verrocchio and Houdon, and eighteenth-century terracotta figures. Furniture of wood and marble, gilt bronze and porcelain - including pieces made for Marie-Antoinette - match these in importance. Readers will enjoy browsing through this selection of the treasures to be seen in the house built by Mr. Frick, offered here in the most extensive one-volume survey to be published on the renowned Collection.