Henry Clay Frick had a deep appreciation for Spanish painting, particularly the work of El Greco, the extraordinary Greek artist who, after a brief period in Italy, spent most of his life in Toledo, Spain. Frick traveled to Spain twice and acquired three works by the artist between 1905 and 1913. Here they were displayed side by side for the first time in a presentation organized in concert with El Greco in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Together, the two exhibitions showed all of El Greco’s work in New York public collections and mark the 400th anniversary of the painter’s death.
El Greco, Purification of the Temple, ca. 1600. Oil on canvas, 16 1/2 x 20 5/8 in. The Frick Collection; photo Michael Bodycomb