The Frick to reopen in April after renovation of Upper East Side mansion
The Frick Collection from East 70th Street; rendering courtesy of Selldorf Architects
The Frick Collection is set to reopen its newly renovated historic home at 1 East 70th Street on the Upper East Side in April 2025. The renovation, designed by Selldorf Architects, will provide a fresh and exciting way to experience the museum’s legendary collections, featuring revitalized historic spaces, new amenities, and expanded galleries, including public access to the mansion’s second floor for the first time. During the renovation, the museum temporarily resided in the iconic Breuer Building from 2021 until March 2024.
Once serving as the private living quarters for the Frick family, the museum’s second floor has functioned as staff administrative offices since 1935. Now, this space has been restored and transformed into ten galleries, opening the floor to the public for the first time.
The galleries will showcase exhibitions inspired by the Frick family’s personal collections over time, featuring Renaissance gold-ground panels and Impressionist paintings. Other exhibits include significant collections recently acquired by the museum, as well as pieces that haven’t been regularly exhibited, like ceramics, rare portrait medals, and the first-ever permanent display of the Frick’s collection of clocks and watches.
A highlight of the second floor is the Boucher Room, which has moved from its previous location on the first floor to its original setting in the former private sitting room of Adelaide Childs Frick, wife of founder Henry Clay Frick.
Additionally, a new Cabinet Gallery on the first floor will debut with a display of 12 rare drawings. These works, which are rarely exhibited due to their sensitivity to light, feature sketches and highly finished drawings by legendary artists such as Degas, Goya, Ingres, and others.
The featured artworks span from the 15th to 19th centuries and complement the museum’s collection of paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts. The exhibit will be on view from the reopening into the summer of 2025.
The Frick Art Research Library and its renovated Reading Room will open alongside the museum, with new entry points on multiple levels that provide a seamless integration of the Frick’s two branches.
The Frick’s inaugural season will showcase a dynamic mix of special installations and engaging public programs throughout the revitalized building. Highlights include a special commission by sculptor and ceramicist Vladimir Kanvesky, featuring porcelain flowers that pay tribute to the floral arrangements commissioned for the museum’s grand opening in 1935.
In late April, the museum will celebrate the opening of the new 220-seat Stephen A. Schwarzman Auditorium with a weeklong music festival featuring classical and contemporary works. The new music hall replaces the museum’s previous 149-seat music room, which was criticized by opponents of the renovation project, as reported by the New York Times.
In June, the Frick will inaugurate its new first-floor special exhibition galleries with “Vermeer’s Love Letters.” This exhibition continues the museum’s tradition of focused presentations that re-examine masterworks from its permanent collection.
The exhibition pairs the artist’s “Mistress and Maid,” which is owned by the Frick, with “Love Letter, from Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, and “Women Writing a Letter, With Her Maid,” from the National Gallery of Ireland, according to the Times.
“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,” Ian Wardropper, the Frick’s outgoing Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Director, who is stepping down after 14 years, said.
“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.”
The Frick first announced plans to expand in 2014, but the effort was shut down after preservationists and architects opposed the plan to fill the Russell Page garden. In 2016, the Frick tapped Selldorf to redesign an expansion that retained the garden. Initial renderings were unveiled in April 2018.
The city’s Landmark Preservation Commission approved the Frick renovation plan in June 2018, despite pushback from preservationists and neighborhood advocates. Opponents expressed concerns about restoring the museum’s original gated garden and urged the LPC to consider designating the museum’s John Russell Pope-designed music room as a landmark to prevent its replacement.
The Frick took over Madison Avenue’s famous Breuer building from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in February 2021 while the renovation project commenced. The iconic Brutalist landmark, located at 945 Madison Avenue, was home to the Whitney Museum of American Art until 2016.
On March 3, Frick Madison closed its doors in preparation for its move back to its newly-renovated home. To celebrate its final months at the Breuer, the museum hosted a series of free public programming, special installations, and exclusive member offerings.
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