The Frick Collection in New York City is one of the finest art museums in the world and a personal favorite. Unlike the nearby Metropolitan Museum, which is massive and can be overwhelming, the Frick is compact so it may be seen in a few hours with a permanent collection of masterpieces which can entertain and educate museum-goers from the most sophisticated to the casual tourist.
Until January 19, 2014, visitors to the Frick can enjoy a unique show of masterpieces from the golden age of Dutch painting on loan from the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in the Hague, Netherlands. Featuring paintings by Dutch master painters like Rembrandt, Vermeer, Steen and Hals, the show features fifteen portraits, landscapes, genre scenes and still lifes from the Dutch Golden Age in the seventeenth century.
Two pictures by artists from Delft, the well-known painting of "The Girl With a Pearl Earring" (1665) by Johannes Vermeer and the lesser known "The Goldfinch" by his contemporary Carel Fabritius, are featured in the show. They are also the subjects of popular books which may be read in conjunction to provide unique context for the paintings. Although purists may shudder, I prepared by reading the fictionalized account of the creation of Vermeer's masterpiece "The Girl With the Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier (1999). To make the trifecta you may also watch the excellent 2003 movie starring Colin Firth and a radiant, young Scarlett Johansonn.
The best selling novel "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt, a well-reviewed hit among the literary/artistic cognescenti this season, is a coming of age novel that opens with the bombing of the Metropolitan Museum while the protagonist and his mother are viewing the painting. Although there is not much connection between novel and the show at the Frick, the congruence of the best selling novel and popular exhibition has been a marketing bonanza for both.
If you do not have copies of these novels and the film, the Frick bookstore is well-stocked. There is also a beautiful and informative catalogue of the exhibition.
Although the two Delft artists steal the spotlight, you may want to take some time exploring the works of another contemporary Dutch artist, Rembrandt van Rinj. Rembrandt's "Portrait of an Elderly Man"(1667) may be compared side-by-side with Rembrandt's self-portrait (1658), which is part of the Frick's permanent collection. Both works show the humanity of the subjects and the artist as age and experience of both are reflected in these great works.
If you are not a member of the Frick, you will need tickets to the exhibition, which are available on line.
