Lower-Level Galleries

Past Exhibition

alabaster and glazed bronze sculpture of standing woman, with headdress of vines
Luigi Valadier: Splendor in Eighteenth-Century Rome
October 31, 2018 to January 20, 2019

Of the many artists who flourished in Rome during the eighteenth century, the silversmith Luigi Valadier (1726–1785) was particularly admired by popes, royalty, and aristocrats across Europe. Luigi Valadier: Splendor in Eighteenth-Century Rome, curated by Alvar González-Palacios, brought together more than sixty extraordinary works by the renowned silversmith in celebration of his unsurpassed technical expertise and avant-garde aesthetic.

Past Exhibition

Painted bust portrait by Murillo showing a man wearing black in a trompe l'oeil oval frame
Murillo: The Self-Portraits
November 1, 2017 to February 11, 2018

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was one of the finest painters of the Spanish Golden Age; this exhibition brought together the only two known self-portraits by him, one in The Frick Collection, and one in the National Gallery, London, along with a small selection of additional works by the artist.

Past Exhibition: Drawings by Fragonard in North American Collections

Drawing of a park with trees and sculpture features.
Drawings by Fragonard in North American Collections
April 21, 1979 to June 3, 1979

The Frick Collection presented an exhibition entitled "Fragonard Drawings in North American Collections," previously shown at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and at the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge. This important and beautiful exhibition, curated by Eunice Williams, Assistant Curator of Drawings at the Fogg Art Museum, was comprised of sixty-three drawings by Fragonard, along with a few comparative examples of work by contemporary French artists.

Past Exhibition: William Blake Watercolor Illustrations

Watercolor of hunched winged man reading book
William Blake Watercolor Illustrations for The Pilgrim’s Progress
September 1, 1981 to November 1, 1981

The Frick Collection once again presented an exhibition of William Blake's illustrations for John Bunyan's Pilgrim’s Progress. The exhibition complemented the collection of Blake's watercolors and illuminated books then on view at the Morgan Library.

Past Exhibition: Whistler in The Frick Collection

painting in greys, blues, and lavender of ocean with ships in the distance
Whistler in The Frick Collection
November 27, 1984 to February 4, 1985

In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the American artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), The Frick Collection exhibited all of its Whistler holdings. Whistler's The Ocean (left), three pastels of Venice, twelve etchings from his famous "Venice Set," a lithograph of Robert, Comte de Montesquiou-Fezensac, and two letters written to Montesquiou and R.A. Canfield were on view in the lower-level gallery. The four full-length portraits by Whistler of Miss Rosa Corder, Mrs. Frederick R.

Past Exhibition: Ingres and the Comtesse d’Haussonville

Woman standing in front of mantle and mirror wearing light blue satin dress with red ribbon in her hair.
Ingres and the Comtesse d’Haussonville
November 19, 1985 to February 16, 1986

The Frick Collection's first show built around a single work of art was a loan exhibition devoted to Ingres's celebrated portrait of the Comtesse d'Haussonville.  The exhibition documented the evolution of the portrait, from hesistant sketches to the brilliant final canvas, and the life and character of the subject, including Mme. d'Haussonville's memoirs and her will.

Past Exhibition: Venice/Paris

Painting of regatta on a Venetian canal
Venice/Paris (Guardi, Whistler, and Meryon)
March 23, 1989 to June 18, 1989

An exhibition focusing on the cities of Venice and Paris as depicted in paintings, drawings, and prints in The Frick Collection. The exhibition included two canvases depicting scenes of Venice by Francesco Guardi that are normally displayed in the main reading room of the Frick Art Reference Library; three pastels of Venetian subjects by J.A.M. Whistler; the twelve etchings that comprised Whistler’s First Venice Set; and thirteen etchings by Charles Meryon providing vivid images of Paris as it appeared in the mid-nineteenth century.

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