World War II

One Hundred Years at the Library: Monuments Men and Women

January 27, 2023

Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, explores one of the most fascinating eras in the Frick Art Reference Library’s hundred-year history. A photograph from the 1940s sheds light on the creation of maps at the library during World War II, which were made to prevent the destruction of at-risk cultural sites and works of art in war areas.

Reading List: Art and World War II

April 21, 2022

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.

Ruisdael

landscape painting by Ruisdael with trees and a river showing a horse and people in the foreground

Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/29–1682)
Landscape with a Footbridge, 1652
Oil on canvas
38 3/4 x 62 5/8 in. (98.4 x 159.1 cm)
Purchased by The Frick Collection, 1949
Accession number: 1949.1.156

For more information, see Landscape with a Footbridge

Past Exhibition

oil painting of Perseus and Andromeda riding Pegasus through the sky
Tiepolo in Milan: The Lost Frescoes of Palazzo Archinto
April 16, 2019 to July 14, 2019

The Frick Collection presented a selection of paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs related to Giambattista Tiepolo’s first significant project outside of Venice, a series of ceiling frescoes for Palazzo Archinto in Milan that were destroyed during World War II.

Past Exhibition: Rearrangement and New Acquisitions During World War II

Black and white photograph of the East Gallery of the Frick Collection in 1942 depicts war-time arrangement of collection.
Rearrangement and New Acquisitions During World War II
June 1, 1942 to May 31, 1945

During World War II, The Frick Collection underwent its first complete rearrangement since it was opened to the public in 1935. The removal of a number of works of art to a place of safety made possible an interesting and attractive rehanging of all the galleries. Many paintings were available for study in different settings. Pictures long off display were seen again. Drawings and prints by Rembrandt, Titian, Rubens, Dürer, Whistler, and others were placed on exhibition for the first time; as was a newly acquired painting by Monet and a set of watercolor drawings by William Blake.

One Hundred Years at the Library: Monuments Men and Women

video still of Stephen Bury pulling book item out of bag

Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, presents a group of maps, guides, photos, and other objects related to the Frick Art Reference Library’s involvement in cultural preservation during World War II. From July 1943 to January 1944, the institution closed to the public to serve as the headquarters of the Committee on the Protection of Cultural Treasures in War Areas, part of the so-called Monuments Men program—a rare but pivotal time the library’s century-long history intersected with major world events.

The Frick During World War II

The Monuments Men

The Monuments Men were a multinational group of 350 men and women who volunteered for military service in order to protect monuments and other cultural treasures from destruction during World War II. In civilian life, many of them were museum directors, curators, artists, architects, and educators. These dedicated men and women tracked, located, and ultimately returned to their rightful owners more than five million artworks and cultural items stolen by Hitler and the Nazis. Their role in preserving Europe’s cultural treasures was without precedent.