Blogs

Get to know the friendly faces of the Frick Art Reference Library in our new series, Staff Picks! In the first installment, Hannah Fountain, Discovery Lead, shares a selection of her favorite items from the library’s collection—including books on modernism, craft, and a Grant Wood catalogue with a corn-cob chandelier. Plus, discover Hannah’s answers to our rapid-fire Q&A.

Sumitra Duncan, Web Archiving Lead, explores technology at the Frick Art Reference Library, as part of our ongoing celebration of its hundredth anniversary. Technological innovations have been embraced since the library’s founding, a commitment that remains a vital part of its mission in the present day. In this post, we consider three examples: the telautograph, early art photography trips and a recent map charting the expeditions, and web archiving efforts.

On the occasion of the return of The Frick Collection’s three paintings by Johannes Vermeer to their display at Frick Madison, Christopher Snow Hopkins, Associate Editor, reflects on the experience of viewing the canvases in the Rijksmuseum’s monumental Vermeer exhibition this year.

Freshly reinstalled at Frick Madison after their presentation in the Rijksmuseum’s landmark Vermeer exhibition, The Frick Collection’s three canvases by the “Sphinx of Delft” have divulged a few more secrets from their layered histories.

Happy Pride Month! To honor the history of Pride and of LGBTQ+ individuals in the arts, we have compiled a selection of books from the Frick Art Reference Library that highlights the work of queer artists and scholars.

The Frick Art Reference Library celebrates all our furry friends this National Pet Day! Discover recommended reads about cats and dogs, plus images of unexpected domestic animals from our digital collections and archival photos of the Frick family’s pets.

To continue our look back at the past one hundred years of the Frick Art Reference Library, Samantha Deutch, Digital Art History Lead, considers the library’s rich holdings of private collection catalogues—integral to our understanding of works of art and the history of collecting.

Joey Vincennie, Reference Lead, rings in the spring with a recommended reading list from the Frick Art Reference Library focused on botany, scientific illustration, landscape architecture, and depictions of flowers and gardens in the visual arts through the ages.

Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, explores one of the most fascinating eras in the Frick Art Reference Library’s hundred-year history. A photograph from the 1940s sheds light on the creation of maps at the library during World War II, which were made to prevent the destruction of at-risk cultural sites and works of art in war areas.

Scott Calhoun, Acquisitions Assistant, looks back on some standout additions to the Frick Art Reference Library’s holdings in 2022. The library adds several thousand new books to its collections each year, including titles from all over the world that cover a vast range of topics.