Cathy's NYC bucket list included a trip to the Frick Collection (it might not sound like a museum, but it is), so we sandwiched it in between the Tenement Museum and the Apollo Theater. I'll tell you straight off, Hank Frick can't hold a candle to Dennis Franz or Mr. Apollo. And it's not because he's dead and they are alive.
Frick, an excessively wealthy steel magnate, was a union-busting CEO who thought nothing of using force to break a strike. Dennis Franz might be a republican, but Henry Frick would have been a Tea Bagger, for sure. (Mr. Apollo's politics cannot be faulted.)
Frick used his partially ill-gotten wealth to build a mansion and acquire some truly remarkable art. Standing before amazing art hung in a home is far more appealing to me than seeing such art in a regular museum. I suspect I enjoy the feeling of intimacy a homey venue can provide, which would be difficult to duplicate in a more institutional environment. And it's almost possible to imagine myself living among the paintings.
The drawing room, for example, contains a wonderful storyboard of romantic paintings by Fragonard. Since I am female, I would, no doubt, have been relegated to the drawing room for a good part of my life. And happily. Better than sitting in the dining room with all of those Tea Baggers.
2 comments:
The Frick collection includes art by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Renoir, and others. You can bet Mr. Frick bought the art more to enhance his personal status than to gaze upon. But, whatever his motives, art by the great masters should be on public display, not hoarded by greedy republicans. IMO.
Post a Comment