Xavier F. Salomon

Xavier F. Salomon is the Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator of The Frick Collection, a post he assumed in January of 2014. More »

Travels with a Curator: Japanese Palace Dresden

video still of Xavier Salomon and painting of river scene

In this week’s episode of “Travels with a Curator,” Xavier F. Salomon, Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, transports us to the Japanisches Palais (Japanese Palace) in Dresden, the original home of the Meissen “Great Bustard.” Augustus II rebuilt and enlarged the Japanese Palace to showcase his extraordinary collection of porcelain, but he died before the project was completed. This exquisite porcelain masterpiece became part of the Frick’s collection through the generosity of the late collector Henry H. Arnhold (1921–2018).

Cocktails with a Curator: Stubbs's 'Portrait of Warren Hastings'

video still of Xavier Salomon painting of man with top hat

In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” join Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon as he considers the life of statesman Warren Hastings, who is depicted in a small watercolor from about 1791 by the prominent British artist George Stubbs. Explore the tumultuous career of Hastings, from his tenure as governor-general of India to a decade-long trial in Westminster Hall upon his return to England. This week’s complementary cocktail is a gin and tonic garnished with a slice of lime.

Cocktail Recipe

Travels with a Curator: Valenciennes

video still of Xavier Salomon and oil painting of soldiers

In this week’s episode of “Travels with a Curator,” travel with Xavier F. Salomon, Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, to Valenciennes, the birthplace of the Rococo painter Jean-Antoine Watteau. Delve into the historical events surrounding Watteau’s "Portal at Valenciennes" (ca. 1710–11), a scene of soldiers at rest near the ramparts of the town. Known for his depictions of garden frolics, Watteau seldom portrayed military life—“The Portal” is one of only three such paintings that survive today.

Frick Five: Arturo Galansino

video still of Xavier Salomon and Arturo Galansino

In the third episode of “Frick Five,” Xavier F. Salomon, Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, interviews Arturo Galansino, Director General of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence. Arturo answers our five questions, disclosing his love for Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. (He promises to wear his Pink Floyd tee-shirt next time.)

Cocktails with a Curator: 8:46

all black video still

We at The Frick Collection stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. Please join us for 8 minutes, 46 seconds of silence to pay respect to the life of George Floyd and the countless other Black lives lost to racially motivated violence.

We offer these links both for information and as resources for activism and involvement:

Frick Five: Aimee Ng

video still of Xavier Salomon and Aimee Ng with oil painting of nude woman, and attendant

In the fourth episode of “Frick Five,” Xavier F. Salomon, Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, interviews his colleague, Curator Aimee Ng. Aimee answers our five questions, revealing how she became an art historian and why. As for the work of art she would most like to live with, it’s about 3,000 years old, 19 inches tall, and has a “cool, calm, commanding presence.”

Cocktails with a Curator: Whistler's 'Mrs. Frances Leyland'

video still of Xavier Salomon and oil painting of woman standing, wearing long dress

In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” join Xavier F. Salomon, Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, as he explores “Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink: Portrait of Mrs. Frances Leyland” by James McNeill Whistler. Delve into the tumultuous history of Whistler’s relationship with Frederick Richards Leyland, the shipping magnate who commissioned the painting, as well as the painter’s affinity for Japanese culture. This week’s complementary cocktail is a Sake Highball on the rocks.

Cocktail Recipe

Travels with a Curator: San Severino Marche

video still of Xavier Salomon and work of art

In this episode of "Travels with a Curator," Xavier F. Salomon, Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, invites us to the Italian city of San Severino Marche to investigate the mystery of the Frick’s “Coronation of the Virgin,” by Paolo Veneziano. The gold-ground panel was originally part of a larger ensemble, but the altarpiece was dismembered sometime before the 1820s. What do we know about the polyptych—and where are the other fragments? Search for clues in a Dominican church just outside the city walls.

Cocktails with a Curator: Barbet's 'Angel'

In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” discover the fascinating history of Jean Barbet’s Angel, an incredibly rare bronze from fifteenth-century France whose origins are shrouded in mystery. Xavier F. Salomon, Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, discusses the royal cannon-maker who cast the sculpture and the possibility that it once resided in Paris’s Sainte-Chapelle. This week’s complementary cocktail is the Angel Face, customarily garnished with an apple slice.

Cocktail Recipe

Travels with a Curator: Santa Maria delle Carceri, Prato

video still of the church of Santa Maria delle Carceri in Prato, with Xavier Salomon in corner window

In this episode of "Travels with a Curator," Xavier F. Salomon, Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, brings us to the church of Santa Maria delle Carceri in Prato, Italy, to explore the original home of one of the Frick’s spectacular bronzes, “St. John Baptizing” by Francesco da Sangallo. Discover the family connections that link this important sculpture to the church and retrace the history of the bronze from its creation in the sixteenth century to its acquisition by Henry Clay Frick in 1916.

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