Holy Frick!
Henry Clay Frick was very much a man connected with his time, but also a man very familiar and in touch with the past. Being a partner in Carnegie Steel, Frick was a millionaire by the age of thirty. After the breakup with the steel company, Frick decided to come to New York (Frick). This is where the magnificent Frick Collection began to develop into one of the most fascinating, and world renowned museums. Frick lived in an age of enormous growth and industrialization. Being a millionaire on 5th Avenue, Frick wanted everybody to know who he was and how important he was (Frick).
Frick did just that from the architecture of the building, to the paintings he specially picked to fill up the space, all the way to English made doorknobs of intricate design (Frick). Everything about Frick’s mansion argues his wealth and knowledge of the art world. He wanted his visitors to know that he was a well educated man with only the best tastes in design. This can be perfectly exemplified through the use of Ancient Greek and Roman architecture. Most of the main parts of the building can be viewed with an Ancient neoclassical inspiration with friezes and colonnades lining an entire room or walkway. Take for example what many consider the heart of the Frick Collection, the Garden Court. Even Though the Garden Court was added on after Frick had died with the intentions for the private home to open up into a museum, it serves as one, if not the, center point of the Frick. Having the Garden Court built after Frick’s death shows a continuing dedication by his family and builders to continue on his legacy filled with beautiful art and tremendous wealth. When you walk into the Garden Court you are immediately transported back to Ancient Greece. As one can only imagine, the Garden Court much resembles and is designed after the atrium of Greek Temples, specifically the Parthenon in Athens. The Garden Court, much like the inside of the Parthenon, has a reflecting pool in the center lined with a colonnade of ionic order. The most impressive and most hidden part of Frick’s Garden Court and hallways would be the pediment of friezes. The most interesting part is that they may appear to be Classical friezes but the focus on artwork that Frick was so much dedicated to is intricately worked in. Hidden in the stylized flowers and leaves are artists templates with a brush; obviously emulating Frick’s love and dedication to the collection of art.
Frick not only sought to have a building that conveyed enormous wealth, he not only conveyed this in the art he collected, but the little details put into the interior design one would not even notice unless they looked very closely (Frick). To notice these small ornate features you must slow down your eye and thinking. When forced to look closer, one notices that intricate detail of each doorknob and how they are all so different. The two that I took close attention to were from the same room, Frick’s Living Hall, but completely different in size and design. One was oval shaped decorated with entwined lines and shapes what appears to lack any subject, until you look closer and see the initials HCF worked into the design. The other doorknob was of a mans face which could hardly be noticed by someone unless they were looking very closely. This only goes to show again Fricks ultimate dedication to detail. Another great example of Fricks obsession with detail was the design of the chandeliers in each room. While one may glance and say they all look the same, when one looks closer you can only help to notice they are all different, all done on purpose by Frick (Frick). One can only imagine the type of money someone has to be able to have everything in your house custom made to fit the room and tastes of the owner.
Frick was not a man to just collect art he thought was visually appealing, he sought to collect the most precious and valued pieces of art coming from every era and place imaginable. All in the same building there is pre-Renaissance art all the way up to post-impressionist pieces. All of the pieces are in no chronological or logical order, in the West Gallery one can find Mythology based sculptures directly next to highly religious pieces of art. Both are completely opposite subjects, but seem to coexist and fit into the environment of the Frick. Specifically, in the West Gallery the two Paolo Veronese pieces, The Choice Between Virtue and Vice (top) and Wisdom and Strength (bottom), seem to be one of the most iconic when conveying a distinct message. Just from the names, one can only infer that Frick must have sought to acquire these to show that he did just have all the things that these pictures show, including virtue, wisdom, and strength. The first piece was painted between 1528 and 1588 and can be seen on the left side of the doorway into the Enamels Room. In the piece, Hercules can be seen at the crossroads tempted by vice and virtue. Vice, being the woman with her back to the viewer, is offering Hercules a life of ease and pleasure. Virtue, being the one Hercules ultimately picks, can be seen grabbing Hercules offering him a life of hardship, but in the end, happiness. Hercules favors virtue in the painting, and maybe since Frick displayed these pieces to be the main focal point of the room he was trying to convey that he himself is a virtuous man. In the upper left hand corner the latin phrase can be translated to mean “honor and virtue flourish after death.” This quote could not suite Frick’s mission any better than having his legacy of “virtue” live on through his household as a museum.
The other piece hanging on the right side of the doorway exemplifies a similar idea just with different character traits. Where as the first was stressing virtue, this piece stresses supremacy of divine wisdom. Hercules is also being depicted in this painting, but now with Wisdom instead of Virtue and Vice. Wisdom, being represented in the woman on the left, seems to tower over Hercules who only seems to be looking down on worldly objects such as a crown and jewels. Again, maybe Frick added these distinguished pieces to his collection just to only confirm he is a man who has much wisdom and strength. This second piece, seems a bit ironic for Frick to have since it encourages the viewer away from worldly things, but didn’t Frick dedicate his life to acquiring and collecting worldly things? Maybe Frick was arguing that by having and collecting worldly objects, such as the paintings he collected, one can acquire much wisdom and knowledge from observing and learning about them. After all, it was Frick’s mission to offer the public an education about the world through the window that was Frick’s personal home, art, and lifestyle.
Not only does a visitor to the Frick learn about the era in which Frick lived, but one can also learn about the eras in which Fricks art was produced. Not only does Frick’s house argue his wealth and knowledge, but it also may argue his desire to educate future generations about the beautiful art he spent millions of dollars collecting. When the mansion was being built on fifth avenue, Frick intended it from the very beginning to become a museum long after he was gone and even specified this in his will (Frick). Imagine the ego of a man who thinks that his house is so great that it should become a museum after he died. This just continues to show that Frick was a wealthy man who believed himself to have the best tastes in all types of art and wanted to share it and show it off. Frick wanted people to know who he was, and he certainly has done just that, even 100 years later with people still flocking to his house to view priceless art.
Works Cited
"The Frick Collection." The Frick Collection. The Frick Collection, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2013.
Veronese, Paolo. The Choice Between Virtue and Vice. 1528-1588. Oil on canvas. The Frick
Collection, New York. Image.
Veronese, Paolo. Wisdom and Strength. 1528-1588. Oil on canvas. The Frick Collection, New
York. Image.
"The Frick Collection." The Frick Collection. The Frick Collection, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2013.
Veronese, Paolo. The Choice Between Virtue and Vice. 1528-1588. Oil on canvas. The Frick
Collection, New York. Image.
Veronese, Paolo. Wisdom and Strength. 1528-1588. Oil on canvas. The Frick Collection, New
York. Image.