Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Fragonard at the Frick Collection!

Dear Friends,

I had the the lovely opportunity to visit the Frick museum last week for their
"Summer Night" event. Despite the fact that it was a sweltering 100 degrees
in NYC, I ventured into to Manhattan this special event.

From 6-9, the museum was open after hours, included dance performances, lectures, and plein air ( almost, in the fountain garden atrium) sketching!. Their new installation of Turkish inspired objets d'arte from
the court of Marie Antoinette was also a major factor of my sojurn down to all the delightfulness.

The Frick collection is housed in Mr Frick's NYC mansion , on east 70th and Madison. Located right on Central park, It was the great industrialist Henry Clay Frick's Manhattan maison.
As with many museums, photography, even without a flash, is strictly prohibited.
( which I learned quickly!)

Th highlight of the entire event, to my surprise, was not the "Turkish Tastes in the Court of Marie Antoinette" collection ( which was rather small, and consisted of painted armoire? doors belonging to Louis the xvi's brother Comte d' Artois,
and brass/ gold camel statues which once flanked Marie Antoinette's fireplace at Fountainbleu.

The highlight , beyond measure! was 4 things.

1- The Fragonard Room.


Ladies and Gents, really? Really? Really!!

Sublimely beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. Rococo grandeur at it's Absolute Best.
There are 4-6 HUGE oil painted panels, painted for Louis the vx's mistress Madame
Du Barry.
Enormous I say! One panel must have been 9 feet x 5 feet.
These panels cover the entire walls of this room.

I honestly wondered if these were original Fragonards'. I expected his work to be
smaller in scale, and in pastel...? I researched later, and yes, Friends...
They are orginal. Mr. Frick acquired these shortly before he died.
What a Gentleman, With What Taste!!

2- The Boucher Room




Painted a lovely tint of pale grayish blue-green, this room is also
resplendant in Rococo Majesty. Next time I go, I am bringing my Pantone colour
swatch book to match the walls. It's such an interesting wall colour choice.
Mrs. Frick originally had the Boucher panels in her 2nd floor sitting room. What a lucky lady!

3-
The dining room the with HUGE Gainsborough portraits.




Again, these portraits must be 9 feet tall at least.
They are unbelievably stunning.
My favourite was: The Honorable Frances Duncombe (blue dress)
( ** please note, on the Frick website, the honorable Frances Dracombe gainsborough
portrait is in the oval room. The second portrait, "Grace Dalrymple Elliott", is
not so large, but one of my personal favourites. She resides currently in the dining room)

4- An unexpected highlight.. The Rembrandt Self Portrait.



It is about 3.5 feet by 4.5 feet ( nice large scale!)
Although I have studied Rembrandt in several Art History classes, his work never
'called' to me. And probably because I was a-memorizing slides, b-looking at reproductions of his paintings in text books.

GO SEE THE REAL THING, Kids.
Your Art History teacher is not kidding when they say he was a MASTER.
Rembrandt's eyes had a depth of "life" I have NEVER seen in a painting.
( let alone rare in real life.. they were twinkling!)
His colours are extraordinairly profound. Yes, profound.
I read about a lost medium of the old masters Maroger tried his whole life to find
(hence "Maroger" medium). Looking at an original Rembrandt, I completely understand why.
Gorgeous and Substantial in an Ethereal Manner.

Most likely I will join the Frick Collective and become a Member, or Fellow...!
It is such a magical, beautiful place. I am for SURE going back when I have a bit more time.
I am so grateful I live close to the wealth of true art and culture that reside in NYC.

Please visit The Frick Collection for more information
regarding the paintings and history of a great man and his sublime art collection!

1 comment:

  1. Greetings from the Frick. So glad you enjoyed our summer night and are sharing your discoveries and thoughts with others. And, I wanted to share the news with you that we're about to publish our first book entirely devoted to the Fragonard panels...from their commission for Madame du Barry, to her rejection of them..how they ended up in J.P Morgan's collection..and then ours. It's a wonderful tale of 18th century tastemakers...and later art collectors. The book should be available in early September. Best regards, Heidi Rosenau, The Frick Collection

    ReplyDelete