The Frick To Reopen in April 2025: Revitalized Spaces | Installations | Added Galleries

New York (October 30, 2024) — The Frick Collection announced today that it will reopen in April 2025, following the renovation and enhancement by Selldorf Architects of its historic Fifth Avenue home. The landmark occasion will invite visitors to experience the museum’s permanent collection anew, with its iconic masterworks reinstalled in restored spaces on the first floor, along with rarely exhibited and recently acquired works shown in a new suite of galleries on the mansion’s second floor, open to the public for the first time. The Frick Art Research Library and its refurbished Reading Room will reopen concurrently with the museum, with brand-new entry points on multiple levels that enable a seamless integration of the institution’s two branches.

As detailed below, the Frick’s inaugural season will feature a slate of special installations and exciting public programs throughout the opening months in its revitalized buildings. These include a special commission by sculptor and ceramicist Vladimir Kanevsky of porcelain flowers that pay homage to the floral arrangements made for the Frick’s original opening, in 1935. In late April, the Frick will introduce the Stephen A. Schwarzman Auditorium with a weeklong music festival featuring both classical and contemporary works. And in June, the museum’s new first-floor special exhibition galleries will be inaugurated with Vermeer’s Love Letters, which continues the Frick’s tradition of focused presentations that re-examine masterworks from its permanent collection. 

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Stated Ian Wardropper, the Frick’s outgoing Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Director, “As we look ahead to reopening our doors, we are excited to welcome visitors back to enjoy what makes the Frick such a unique museum within the cultural landscape of New York City. The intimate encounters with art offered by our historic galleries, along with new spaces transformed from former domestic interiors, remain a cornerstone of the Frick experience. These spaces have been enhanced thanks to the efforts of the architects, artisans, preservation experts, curators, and many others who have made our historic renovation and enhancement project a reality. We are especially honored and gratified by the extraordinarily generous support of donors to this project, the most important in our history.”

Added Elizabeth M. Eveillard, Chair of the Board of Trustees, “The Frick’s reopening is an invitation to all New Yorkers and art lovers from around the world to discover—or rediscover—incredible works of art from our permanent collection, displayed in the painstakingly restored setting of our historic home. Following this long-awaited unveiling, we look forward to giving our audiences the opportunity to experience several newly constructed spaces through signature Frick initiatives, namely a classical concert series and a focused presentation featuring Vermeer’s beloved Mistress and Maid.” 

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FRICK’S INAUGURAL SEASON

New Cabinet Gallery to Open with Rare Display of Drawings

Extending this focus on the Frick’s permanent collection, a display of twelve exceptional works on paper will inaugurate a new Cabinet Gallery on the museum’s first floor. The works—which are rarely on view owing to their sensitivity to light—range from sketches to highly finished drawings by artists including Degas, Goya, Ingres, Rubens, and Whistler. The selected sheets span the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries and complement the museum’s celebrated holdings of paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts. The presentation, on view from the reopening into the summer of 2025, is organized by Aimee Ng, the Frick’s John Updike Curator.

Special Installation of Ceramic Sculptures by Vladimir Kanevsky

Coinciding with the Frick’s reopening, a series of commissioned works by sculptor Vladimir Kanevsky (b. Ukraine, 1951) will be on display throughout the museum’s first- and second- floor galleries. Known for his lifelike porcelain flowers, Kanevsky’s sculptures have been exhibited in museums around the world, including the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens in Washington, D.C. Kanevsky’s opulent creations for the Frick are meant to evoke the beautiful fresh floral bouquets displayed throughout the museum when it first opened to the public, in 1935. The presentation is organized by Xavier F. Salomon, Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, and will remain on view for some six months.

Museum’s Second Floor to Open to the Public for the First Time

Formerly the Frick family’s private living quarters, the second floor of The Frick Collection’s historic mansion served as staff administrative offices since the museum first opened in 1935. Now, several of these spaces have been restored and transformed into a suite of ten galleries that will, for the first time, enable the public to experience more of the institution’s remarkable building. Visitors will experience installations inspired by the personal collecting interests of the Frick family through time, including beloved Renaissance gold-ground panels and Impressionist paintings. Also on view will be significant collections that have entered more recently into the museum’s holdings—some of which have yet to be regularly exhibited—ranging from ceramics to rare portrait medals and including the first permanent display of the Frick’s important collection of clocks and watches. A highlight of the second floor will be the Boucher Room, which returns from its previous first-floor installation to its original setting upstairs in the former private sitting room of Adelaide Childs Frick, wife of founder Henry Clay Frick. The installation of these galleries, along with the reinstallation of the Frick’s first-floor galleries, has been organized by the curatorial team led by Xavier F. Salomon, Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator; Aimee Ng, John Updike Curator; Giulio Dalvit, Associate Curator; and Marie-Laure Buku Pongo, Associate Curator of Decorative Arts; in association with the Frick’s longtime exhibition designer, Stephen Saitas.

Music, Performance, and Education Programming to Resume

Building on its history of hosting concerts of the highest caliber, the Frick is organizing a weeklong festival of performances and special events. Beginning Saturday, April 26, 2025, and running through May 8, the festival will include concerts of Classical, Baroque, and twentieth- century music, as well as a new contemporary commission. The series is organized by Jeremy Ney, the Frick’s Matthew Christopher Pietras Head of Music and Performance, to mark the debut of the new 220-seat Stephen A. Schwarzman Auditorium. Designed by Selldorf Architects, this circular space will better accommodate audiences, and state-of-the-art acoustics will improve the sound quality of all programs, including lectures and symposia.

A dedicated Education Room will debut this spring as well, designed to enhance the experience of students, educators, community partners, and intergenerational audiences. The new room will provide a flexible, multi-purpose space for courses, seminars, art-making activities, workshops, and other programs. Further details will be announced soon about a new lecture series, original programs, and the revival of some of the Frick’s most popular public events, all organized by April Kim Tonin, the institution’s Ayesha Bulchandani Head of Education and Public Engagement. 

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Vermeer’s Love Letters to Inaugurate the Frick’s New Special Exhibition Galleries

To inaugurate the museum’s new first-floor special exhibition galleries, three works by Vermeer will be presented from June 18 through September 8, 2025. The unprecedented installation of paintings united in Vermeer’s Love Letters pairs the Frick’s Mistress and Maid with special loans of the Rijksmuseum’s Love Letter and the National Gallery of Ireland’s Woman Writing a Letter, with Her Maid. Their presentation together in a single gallery for the first time offers visitors an opportunity to consider Vermeer’s treatment of the theme of letters as well as his depiction of women of different social classes. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Robert Fucci, a distinguished expert on Vermeer from the University of Amsterdam, who will author a catalogue focused on the three works and their broader themes in seventeenth- century Dutch art. This exhibition is generously funded by the Jasmine Charity Trust in memory of Regina Jaglom Wachter. 

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THE RENOVATION AND ENHANCEMENT PROJECT

Designed by Selldorf Architects with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners (BBB) serving as Executive Architect, The Frick Collection’s renovation and enhancement project marks the first comprehensive upgrade of its facilities in nearly ninety years and will allow the public to experience more of the original Frick residence. The project honors the architectural legacy and unique character of the buildings, while addressing pressing institutional and programmatic needs by repurposing 60,000 square feet of existing space and adding 27,000 square feet of new construction. The renovated museum and library include newly created spaces for exhibitions, education, and conservation, along with new public amenities, enhanced accessibility, and upgraded systems and infrastructure to ensure the ongoing vitality of the Frick for decades to come.

In addition, significant work was undertaken to restore the mansion to its late Gilded Age splendor. These efforts included the installation of textiles and wall hangings manufactured by the same firms commissioned by the Frick family more than a century ago. Architectural features throughout the buildings have been treated, preserving elaborate wood paneling and carvings, decorative marble and plaster, and bronze fixtures and hardware. The scope of the project was expanded to encompass an extensive restoration of the Frick mansion’s original façades.

The estimated total project cost of $330 million includes new construction and capital improvements, restoration and renovation work, infrastructure upgrades to improve energy efficiency, and the institution’s temporary relocation to Frick Madison. With about 80% of funds raised to date, the project is supported by the Campaign for the Frick, which includes gifts as well as board-designated funds.

For more information about the Frick’s renovation and enhancement project, visit frick.org/renovation. 

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Housed in one of New York City’s last great Gilded Age homes, The Frick Collection provides intimate encounters with one of the world’s foremost collections of fine and decorative arts. Open since 1935, the institution originated with Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919), who bequeathed his Fifth Avenue residence and collection of European paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts for the enjoyment of the public. The museum’s holdings, which encompass masterworks from the Renaissance through the late nineteenth century, have grown over the decades, more than doubling in number since the opening of the museum. The Frick Art Research Library (recently renamed from the Frick Art Reference Library), was founded more than one hundred years ago by Henry Clay Frick’s daughter Helen Clay Frick. It is today a leading art history research center that serves students, scholars, and the public.

For more information, please visit frick.org.

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AAQ / Resource: Ben Krupinski Builder

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AAQ / Resource: Westhampton Architectural Glass

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