THE FRICK COLLECTION

Opened to the public in 1932, this house bears no resemblance to the idea of a traditional museum. Perhaps that's why New Yorkers love the Frick Collection, the dream come true of Pittsburgh steel magnate Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919), who wanted to leave posterity with the image of a modern American patron willing to offer fortunes for the works of art he wished to acquire at any cost. A patron of the arts, but also a fierce anti-unionist, Frick was responsible for the massacre of the Homestead Steel workers. He devoted a large part of his immense fortune and 40 years of his life to purchasing the wonders that hang on the walls of his opulent home, built in 1913 on 5th Avenue, opposite Central Park.

After nearly five years of renovation, the historic house that houses The Frick Collection finally reopened its doors in the spring of 2025. This Pharaonic undertaking, valued at $220 million, not only restored the historic galleries but also opened the previously private second floor to the public. Ten new rooms reveal the Fricks' former apartments, refurnished in their original state: bedroom, drawing rooms, library, breakfast room... Not to be missed: the splendid Boucher Room, Adélaide Frick's boudoir, whose eight allegorical panels by François Boucher are among the treasures of the collection.

The first floor features the original 19 rooms, with masterpieces by Bellini, Boucher, Bruegel, Chardin, David, Delacroix, Degas, Fragonard, Gainsborough, Goya and El Greco, Ingres, Lawrence, Lorrain, Manet, Monet, Piero della Francesca, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens, de La Tour, Van Dyck, Van Eyck, Velázquez, Vermeer, Tiepolo, Titian, Veronese, Watteau, Whistler.. In the west gallery, which retains its emblematic layout, you can admire two remarkable Turners facing each other and, placed side by side, a self-portrait by Rembrandt and his enigmatic Polish Horseman. Pell-mell include four very fine paintings by the American painter Whistler, an astonishing Bronzino, Titian's Portrait of the Aretinus and Holbein the Younger's Portrait of Sir Thomas More. In every room, admire the French-style furniture and oriental carpets, which may appear to be part of the décor, but are in fact objets d'art in their own right. You'll certainly want to take a seat in the glass-roofed garden, where, lulled by the murmur of the fountain, you can savor the peace of this oasis of fine art.