Frick Art & Historical Center

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The Frick Art Museum, part of the Frick Art & Historical Center. TheFrickArtMuseumatClayton.jpg
The Frick Art Museum, part of the Frick Art & Historical Center.

The Frick Art & Historical Center is a cluster of museums and historical buildings located at 7227 Reynolds Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States and formed around the Frick family's nineteenth-century residence known as "Clayton". It focuses on the interpretation of the life and times of Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919), industrialist and art collector.

A historic house museum is a house that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of standards, including those of the International Council of Museums.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

Henry Clay Frick American industrialist

Henry Clay Frick was an American industrialist, financier, union-buster, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major role in the formation of the giant U.S. Steel manufacturing concern. He also financed the construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Company, and had extensive real estate holdings in Pittsburgh and throughout the state of Pennsylvania. He later built the historic neoclassical Frick Mansion, and upon his death donated his extensive collection of old master paintings and fine furniture to create the celebrated Frick Collection and art museum. However, as a founding member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, he was also in large part responsible for the alterations to the South Fork Dam that caused its failure, leading to the catastrophic Johnstown Flood. His vehement opposition to unions also caused violent conflict, most notably in the Homestead Strike.

Contents

The complex, located on 5.5 acres (22,000 m2) [1] of lawn and gardens in the city's Point Breeze neighborhood, includes Clayton, the restored Frick mansion; The Frick Art Museum; The Car and Carriage Museum; the Greenhouse; the Frick children's playhouse; and The Café. The site welcomes over 100,000 visitors a year. Admission is free. The current Director is Edinburgh Scotland native Robin Nicholson. He was previously the Deputy Director for Art & Education at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) from 2009-2014. Mr. Nicholson became the Frick's third Director in September 2014, following the retirement of Bill Bodine (2002-2014).

Helen Clay Frick (1888—1984) was the driving force to preserve the Frick estate and allow it to open to the public after her death.

Helen Clay Frick American philanthropist

Helen Clay Frick (1888–1984) was an American philanthropist and art collector. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the third child of the coke and steel magnate Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919) and Adelaide Howard Childs (1859–1931). Two of her siblings did not reach adulthood, and her father played favorites with his two surviving children, Childs Frick (1883–1965) and Helen. After the reading of their father's will, which favored Helen, the brother and sister were estranged for the rest of their lives. Nonetheless, Helen developed as a strong, independent and spirited young woman. She was equally interested in art history and philanthropy, making a catalogue of her father's art collection as a young woman, a collection which became the Frick Collection in New York.

History

The Frick Mansion "Clayton" FrickMansionClayton.jpg
The Frick Mansion "Clayton"

Today's museum began as an eleven-room, Italianate-style house purchased by the Fricks shortly after their marriage in 1881. The house was built in the 1860s, original architect unknown. After modifications by Pittsburgh architect Andrew Peebles, it was renamed "Clayton". Further remodeling of the house was done in 1892 by Pittsburgh architect Frederick J. Osterling. The Playhouse was constructed in 1897 to designs by architects Alden & Harlow. The house served as the Fricks' primary residence from 1883 to 1905. The Fricks moved to New York City in 1905, where they eventually established the Frick Collection, but in 1981 daughter Helen Clay Frick returned to Clayton, where she had previously spent part of each year, and remained there permanently until her death in 1984. Clayton opened to the public in 1990, and in 1997 the 1950s carriage house was enlarged to create the Car and Carriage Museum.

Andrew Peebles is a Zimbabwean rower. He placed 25th in the men's single sculls event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Frederick J. Osterling American architect

Frederick John Osterling was an American architect, practicing in Pittsburgh from 1888.

Frick Collection art museum in New York City

The Frick Collection is an art museum located in the Henry Clay Frick House on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, New York City at 1 East 70th Street, at the northeast corner with Fifth Avenue. It houses the collection of industrialist Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919).

In May 2013 the center announced a $15 million renovation to break ground on June 6, 2013. [2]

Collections

The Frick Art Museum's collection includes a large group of works on paper by Jean-François Millet, Renaissance and Baroque bronzes, and nineteenth-century European paintings. There are also Late Medieval and Renaissance paintings of a devotional nature by: Bernardo Daddi, Lippo Memmi, Giovanni di Paolo, Francesco di Vannuccio ("Saint Catherine"), Rainaldo di Rainuccio da Spoleto, Sassetta, Matteo Di Giovanni, Francesco Melzi, and Jean Bellegambe. In the Frick Art Museum, there are Renaissance and Baroque paintings with secular themes by: Apollonio Di Giovanni ("Scenes from Homer's Odyssey"), Jean-Louis de Marne ("Seine at Saint Cloud"), Carle Van Loo, Maurice Quentin de la Tour, Peter Paul Rubens, Jan Steen, Jan van Os, and Arthur Devis. In Clayton, in the mansion Frick lived in are 19th Century paintings by Jules Cazin, Jean-François Raffaëlli, and Anton Mauve.

Jean-François Millet 19th-century French painter

Jean-François Millet was a French painter and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. Millet is noted for his scenes of peasant farmers; he can be categorized as part of the Realism art movement.

Renaissance cultural movement that spanned the period roughly from the 14th to the 17th century

The Renaissance is a period in European history, covering the span between the 14th and 17th centuries and marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity. The traditional view focuses more on the early modern aspects of the Renaissance and argues that it was a break from the past, but many historians today focus more on its medieval aspects and argue that it was an extension of the middle ages.

Baroque cultural movement, starting around 1600

The Baroque is a highly ornate and often extravagant style of architecture, music, painting, sculpture and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th until the mid-18th century. It followed the Renaissance style and preceded the Rococo and Neoclassical styles. It was encouraged by the Catholic Church as a means to counter the simplicity and austerity of Protestant architecture, art and music, though Lutheran Baroque art developed in parts of Europe as well. The Baroque style used contrast, movement, exuberant detail, deep colour, grandeur and surprise to achieve a sense of awe. The style began at the start of the 17th century in Rome, then spread rapidly to France, northern Italy, Spain and Portugal, then to Austria and southern Germany. By the 1730s, it had evolved into an even more flamboyant style, called rocaille or Rococo, which appeared in France and central Europe until the mid to late 18th century.

Automobiles on display include an 1881 Brougham, 1898 Panhard et Levassor Tonneau, 1903 Baker Electric, 1906 Outing Wagon, 1909 Bailey Electric Phaeton, 1909 Keystone Sixty-Six Roadster, 1911 Penn 30 Touring Car, 1912 Daimler Landaulet, 1914 Ford Model T Touring Car, 1914 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Touring Car, 1917 Standard Model E Touring Car, 1924 Auto Red Bug Flyer, 1931 Lincoln Model K Sport Phaeton, and 1940 American Bantam Convertible Coupe.

The museum will be hosting the visiting exhibition, Killer Heels [3] starting in June 2016.

Selection of Works Located at the Art and Historical Center

See also

The greenhouse at the Frick Art & Historical Center FrickGreenhouse.jpg
The greenhouse at the Frick Art & Historical Center

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References

Notes
  1. ↑ http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/frick-art-historical-center-to-get-15-million-makeover-689348/
  2. ↑ http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/frick-art-historical-center-to-get-15-million-makeover-689348/
  3. ↑ Harrop, JoAnne Klimovich (21 September 2015). "Frick Art & Historical Center to host 'Killer Heels' exhibit". Tribune. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
Bibliography

Coordinates: 40°26′53″N79°54′04″W / 40.448°N 79.901°W / 40.448; -79.901

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