Blogs

The Frick Collection and Frick Art Reference Library Archives contain records of countless significant individuals in the history of art and art collecting. Recent research brought to light Rose H. Lorenz, an early twentieth-century gallery and auction house professional who worked with Henry Clay Frick and defied expectations for women in the field.

Happy first day of summer! Ralph Baylor, Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Lead, offers a reading list on the history of astronomy in art from the collections of the Frick Art Reference Library, in celebration of the summer solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere.

In celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month, discover a selection of recommended reads from the Frick Art Reference Library on Jewish artists, collectors, and scholars in North America. Books on the list explore themes such as the diasporic experience, assimilation and tradition, and the sacred and secular.

In commemoration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the Frick Art Reference Library, Sally Brazil, Barbara G. Fleischman Associate Chief Librarian for Archives and Records Management, looks back on the lifeblood of the library through the decades—its incredible staff. Discover photographs, scrapbooks, drawings, and archival materials documenting the contributions of generations of knowledgeable staff members, who have guided the library’s mission and growth over the past century. Objects featured in the post are part of the celebratory publication One Hundred Objects in the Frick Art Reference Library, available for purchase in the Museum Shop.

In commemoration of the seventy-seventh anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II, Michelle McCarthy-Behler, Reference Lead, offers ten titles from the Frick Art Reference Library exploring art during and after the Second World War—from paintings on the front lines to art used as propaganda, the Monuments Men, and later restitution efforts.

On May 3, 1947, the poet T. S. Eliot delivered a lecture at the Frick on John Milton’s Paradise Lost. In honor of the centenary of the publication of Eliot’s highly influential poem The Waste Land, explore the surprising connections between this famous work, Milton’s Edenic verse, and the lush forests of Fragonard’s Progress of Love.

Giovanni Bellini’s St. Francis in the Desert (ca. 1475–80) is one of the Frick’s most beloved works of art, but there was a time when it could not find a buyer. Explore the ups and downs of the art market through an interactive map charting the panel’s peregrinations, from quattrocento Venice to its temporary home at Frick Madison.

A massive banner discovered during preparations for the museum’s temporary move to Frick Madison, was the key to finally identify a group of uncaptioned photographs in the Frick Archives.

In this month’s reading list from the Frick Art Reference Library, Eugenie Fortier, Acting Storage and Retrieval Lead, explores the 171-year tradition of World’s Fairs, to coincide with the current World Expo in Dubai. Recommended books delve into the fairs’ remarkable presentations of art, technology, and global culture.