PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FRICK PITTSBURGH
There are only 30 or so Vermeers in existence. One of them is currently in Pittsburgh.
The Frick Pittsburgh has unveiled its latest exhibition, “Vermeer, Monet, Rembrandt,” with works by those artists as well as Degas, El Greco and more.
“It is truly an amazing opportunity to see some great works of art,” says Frick Chief Curator and Director of Collections Dawn Reid Brean, noting the last time a painting by the 17th century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer was in Pittsburgh was in 1940, when the Carnegie Museum of Art displayed “The Milkmaid.”
As a whole, the exhibition helps to tell the story of how Frick and his daughter, Helen Clay Frick, amassed their extensive collection.
Henry Clay Frick took an interest in the old masters right around the turn of the 19th century. He purchased his first Vermeer, “Girl Interrupted at Her Music,” which is included in the exhibition, in 1901 for $26,000, which would be just under $1 million today. It was the fourth Vermeer to ever enter the United States.
JOHANNES VERMEER (DUTCH, 1632–1675), “GIRL INTERRUPTED AT HER MUSIC,” CA. 1658-1659. OIL ON CANVAS, 15 ½ X 17 ½ IN. THE FRICK COLLECTION, NEW YORK.
Frick purchased his second Vermeer, “Officer and Laughing Girl,” 10 years later for 10 times the amount. He ultimately had three Vermeers in his collection.
Also in 1901, Frick purchased Monet’s “Banks of the Seine at Lavacourt,” also included in The Frick Pittsburgh’s exhibition, for $3,000, less than a year after it hung in the Carnegie International.
CLAUDE MONET (FRENCH, 1840–1926), “BANKS OF THE SEINE AT LAVACOURT (BORDS DE LA SEINE A LAVACOURT),” 1879. OIL ON CANVAS, 22 7/8 X 31 ½ IN. FRICK ART & HISTORICAL CENTER, PITTSBURGH.
Frick purchased the Rembrandt “Self-Portrait” seen in the exhibition in 1906. Urging Frick to buy the piece, art dealer Charles Carstairs wrote to him saying, “It is most powerful, grand, monumental. If only you could see the picture over your mantel, dominating the entire gallery, just as you dominate those you come into contact with…” The painting is Rembrandt’s largest of his approximately 100 self portraits.
REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN (DUTCH, 1606–1669), “SELF-PORTRAIT,” 1658. OIL ON CANVAS, 52 5/8 X 40 7/8 IN. THE FRICK COLLECTION, NEW YORK.
The Ingres portrait on display in this exhibition, “Comtesse d’Haussonville,” 1845, was one of Helen’s contributions to the family’s collection; it was from a period of French art that Henry did not collect and was acquired after his death. Helen also eliminated pieces from the family’s collection she felt did not align with her father’s tastes.
“What visitors to The Frick Collection might think of as Henry’s creation was, in fact, the work of many contributors, including his indomitable daughter,” a placard in the show reads. “Without Helen, The Frick Collection would look very different, and The Frick Pittsburgh would not exist.”
JEAN-AUGUSTE-DOMINIQUE INGRES (FRENCH, 1780–1867), “LOUISE, PRINCESS DE BROGLIE, LATER THE COMTESSE D’HAUSSONVILLE,” 1845. OIL ON CANVAS, 51 7/8 X 36 ¼ IN. THE FRICK COLLECTION, NEW YORK.
Hanging next to the imposing Rembrandt that Henry acquired is a smaller work, Sassetta’s “Virgin Crowned by Two Angels,” originally purchased by Henry’s wife, Adelaide Frick in 1931. The positioning is meant to evoke the difference between Henry’s tastes and the roles Helen and Adelaide played in the family collection.
Frick Executive Director Elizabeth Barker said the exhibit has, in a sense, been about a century in the making. The Frick Collection in New York City opened in 1935; that museum and The Frick Pittsburgh each hold subsets of the Frick family art collection, but because The Frick Collection rarely lends their pieces, Barker said, the two subsets have never been exhibited as a whole.
However, The Frick Collection is currently undergoing renovations, and The Frick Pittsburgh made its case for displaying some of the works rather than have them sit in storage. Three dozen pieces from The Frick Collection are currently on display in Pittsburgh in this exhibition.
The Frick Pittsburgh has numerous events organized with community partners surrounding the exhibit, which runs through July 14. On May 5, members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will perform in The Frick Art Museum Auditorium, and on June 1, a full-day program will immerse guests in Henry Clay Frick’s life with a tour of Clayton then a trip to West Overton Village in Westmoreland County, where Frick was born and raised.
