1990

Past Exhibition: The Frick’s Other Collection

Black and white photograph of the Frick Art Reference Library Reading Room taken in 1935 showing empty communal tables with lamps and chairs
The Frick’s Other Collection: The 70th Anniversary of The Frick Art Reference Library
December 11, 1990 to March 24, 1991

The creation, growth, and present-day role of The Frick Art Reference Library was the focus of a special exhibition marking the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the institution. The first section of the exhibition surveyed the Library's history from its foundation to the present. Photographs, architectural plans, records, maps, newspaper clippings, and artifacts documented the Library's growth from its early acquisition of materials to the time of the construction of the first building (1924) and the current location (1935) at 10 East 71st Street.

Past Exhibition: Adolph Menzel, 1815–1905

Painting of black horse head with black leather and brass bridle
Adolph Menzel, 1815–1905: Master Drawings from East Berlin
September 11, 1990 to November 18, 1990

An exhibition of seventy-eight drawings and watercolors lent from the Nationalgalerie in East Berlin, which holds over 4,000 of the extant Menzel drawings. This survey of the great German master's career was the first exhibition devoted to his work in the United States.

Past Exhibition: 17th-Century Chinese Porcelains

Detail of Chinese porcelain piece depicting four figures and a tree.
17th-Century Chinese Porcelains from the Butler Family Collection
June 26, 1990 to August 19, 1990

A major exhibition of 142 pieces, ranging from bowls to wine pots, dishes, jars, vases, and a figurine, the exhibition provided a survey of some of the finest porcelain produced in China during the so-called Transitional Period between 1620 and 1683. The pieces in the exhibition were selected from over 600 objects collected over several decades by retired British diplomat Sir Michael Butler.

Past Exhibition: Drawings and Watercolors of Thomas Rowlandson

detail of painting depicting four military musicians playing wind instruments surrounding two stacked drums.
Drawings and Watercolors of Thomas Rowlandson
February 6, 1990 to April 8, 1990

A loan exhibition of watercolors and drawings by the celebrated eighteenth- and nineteenth-century English caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson. The eighty-four works in this exhibition were drawn from forty international collections both public and private. Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) was a colorful personality and a versatile and prolific artist best known for portraying aristocrats and the English middle class with an eye for comic incident.