Carol Togneri: "Norton Winfred Simon and the Formation of His Collection"

On the occasion of the Frick’s exhibition of five Old Master paintings from the Norton Simon Museum, Carol Togneri focused on Simon’s acquisitive habits, his wide-ranging tastes in art, and the ambition that drove him to amass a collection of masterpieces. This lecture was delivered on February 11, 2009, in conjunction with Masterpieces of European Painting from the Norton Simon Museum, on view at The Frick Collection from February 10 through May 10, 2009. The exhibition afforded New York and East Coast audiences the occasion to see superb masterworks from the collections of the Norton Simon Art Foundation and the Norton Simon Foundation, a very special opportunity as both institutions generally do not allow their works to travel. None of the represented artists can be found in the Frick’s collection, and the outstanding quality of each painting made them well suited to be seen in the company of the Frick’s works. For information about the exhibition, see frick.org/exhibitions/nortonsimon/. This was the first in a joint collaboration between the two institutions: The Frick Collection's painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres of the Comtesse d'Haussonville (1845) was on display at the Norton Simon during the fall of 2009.