New Portico Gallery Opens with Selections of Meissen Porcelain from Henry H. Arnhold's Promised Gift and Two Sculptures by Houdon
December 13, 2011, through January 6, 2013
Introduction
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The Portico Gallery, photograph: Michael Bodycomb |
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Visitors to The Frick Collection will be able to enjoy a new gallery — the first major addition to the museum's display spaces in nearly thirty-five years. The inspiration for this initiative, which involves the enclosure of the portico in the Fifth Avenue Garden, comes from the intention of museum founder Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919) to build an addition to his 1914 mansion for his growing collection of sculpture. The project was postponed in 1917 following the United States entry into World War I, and Mr. Frick died before it could be resumed. In recent years, the institution has placed greater focus on sculpture through critically acclaimed exhibitions and several key acquisitions, while also evaluating the effectiveness of the display and lighting of such objects. Another area of increased focus has been the decorative arts. When talks began with renowned porcelain collector Henry H. Arnhold about a promised gift, the idea to create a gallery both for sculpture and the decorative arts was revisited. The architecture firm Davis Brody Bond developed a plan to integrate the outdoor garden portico into the fabric of the museum, and groundbreaking occurred last winter. Davis Brody Bond is one of the leading practices in the United States engaged in a range of museum and landmark structure commissions.
The Portico Gallery opened with an inaugural exhibition of works drawn from Henry Arnhold's promised gift of 131 examples of Meissen porcelain from the early years of this Royal Manufactory's production. On view through April 29, 2012, White Gold: Highlights from the Arnhold Collection of Meissen Porcelain will feature approximately seventy of these objects. The porcelain is presented with two eighteenth-century sculptures by Jean-Antoine Houdon: The Dead Thrush, a long-term loan from the Horvitz Collection, Boston, and Diana the Huntress, a signature work of The Frick Collection. |
