Reading List: Explore Frick Artists Online

While the Frick Art Research Library (newly renamed from the Frick Art Reference Library) is temporarily closed for renovation, we continue to offer a wealth of online resources from our collections for both casual readers and dedicated researchers. In this reading list, explore free e-books and digital resources accessible through our online catalog that feature art and artists in the Frick’s permanent collection. The list encompasses a wide range of fine and decorative media throughout history and highlights titles available in their entirety online.

Please note, some titles below require registering for a free Internet Archive account to access. To explore further digital offerings—including exhibition and auction catalogs—search the more than 6,000 e-books from our collections available online through our partnership with the Internet Archive.

We look forward to welcoming you to our renovated reading room—where visitors can access both our online and print collections—when we reopen in early 2025!

1. The Frick Collection Members’ Magazine

   Edited by Rebecca Brooke (2001–present)

   Stay up to date with the activities of the museum and library. Past issues of the Members’ Magazine—a benefit of Frick membership—are freely available for all to explore online. Recent highlights include an article by Xavier F. Salomon, Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, on Rosalba Carriera’s pastel portraits bequeathed to the museum in 2020. Alternatively, discover our 2023 exhibition The Gregory Gift from Marie-Laure Buku Pongo, Associate Curator of Decorative Arts, including its whimsical automaton clock in the shape of a rhinoceros.

   
   Rosalba Carriera (Italian, 1673–1757), Portrait of a Woman, ca. 1730. Pastel on paper, 23 1/4 x 18 7/8 in. (59.1 x 47.8 cm). The Frick Collection, New York, gift of Alexis Gregory

2. Rembrandt

   By D. M. Field (2002)

   Explore the life and work of Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn in this beautifully illustrated volume. Featuring beloved works from The Frick Collection, such as the artist’s Self-Portrait and The Polish Rider, this comprehensive text delves deep into the Dutch master’s oeuvre.

   
   Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669), The Polish Rider, ca. 1655. Oil on canvas, 46 x 53 1/8 in. (116.8 x 134.9 cm). The Frick Collection, New York

3. Clocks: An Illustrated History of Timepieces

   By John Hunter (1991)

   Take some time out of your busy schedule to peruse the history of clocks, spanning from antiquity to the late twentieth century. The Frick Collection houses an impressive collection of forty-four timepieces, showcasing a diverse array of sizes and functions. This volume will leave you with a newfound appreciation for the intricate world of horology.

   
   Ferdinand Berthoud (French, 1727–1807), Mantel Clock, ca. 1770. Gilt bronze, 16 1/4 x 26 1/4 x 7 7/8 in. (41.3 x 66.7 x 20 cm). The Frick Collection, New York

4. Playing with Fire: European Terracotta Models, 1740–1840

   By James David Draper (2003)

   Trace the evolution of neoclassical sculpture through an illuminating study of eighteenth-century terracotta. This overlooked material—often used in models for final works but also a unique medium in its own right—has not been forgotten at The Frick Collection, with terracotta works created by artists such as Jean-Antoine Houdon, Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi, and Joseph Chinard in our holdings.

   
   Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi (Italian, 1656–1740), Pietà with Two Mourning Angels, probably 1715. Terracotta, 11 5/8 x 21 5/8 in. (29.5 x 54.9 cm). The Frick Collection, New York, gift of The Quentin Foundation

5. Renoir’s Women

   By Ann Dumas (2005)

   Brush up on your knowledge of iconic Impressionist painters. The Frick’s La Promenade by Pierre-Auguste Renoir is just one example of the many paintings of women produced by the artist during his career. This engaging exhibition catalogue was published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title held at the Columbus Museum of Art.

   
   Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919), La Promenade, 1875–76. Oil on canvas, 67 x 42 5/8 in. (170.2 x 108.3 cm). The Frick Collection, New York

6. The Vexations of Art: Velázquez and Others

   By Svetlana Alpers (2005)

   Re-examine European painting through an in-depth look at the work of Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez and other major Frick Collection artists, including Johannes Vermeer and Édouard Manet, among additional canonical figures. Challenging the traditional emphasis on the final work of art, this volume positions the studio as a primary site of artistic meaning-making.

   
   Édouard Manet (French, 1832–1883), The Bullfight, 1864. Oil on canvas, 18 7/8 x 42 7/8 in. (47.9 x 108.9 cm). The Frick Collection, New York

7. The Henry Clay Frick Houses: Architecture, Interiors, Landscapes in the Golden Era

   By Martha Frick Symington Sanger (2001)

   As we eagerly anticipate the reopening of the museum and library’s original Fifth Avenue home, transport yourself to the opulent world of Henry Clay Frick, the institution’s founder. From the neoclassical splendor of Clayton in Pittsburgh to the imposing estate of Eagle Rock in Massachusetts, culminating in our iconic New York City mansion, witness the development of the Frick family’s architectural taste.

   
   View of the historic Frick mansion at 1 East 70th Street from Central Park on Fifth Avenue, 1927. Photo: Ira W. Martin, The Frick Collection/Frick Art Research Library Archives