The Frick Collection has one of the most important public collections of European timepieces in the United States, much of it acquired through the 1999 bequest of the New York collector Winthrop Kellogg Edey. This extraordinary gift of thirty-eight watches and clocks dating from the Renaissance to the early nineteenth century covers the art of horology in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. For reasons of space, only part of the collection can be on permanent view in the museum's galleries. In 2001, many pieces from the Edey collection were featured in The Art of the Timekeeper: Masterpieces from the Winthrop Edey Bequest, an exhibition organized at the Frick by Guest Curator William J. H. Andrewes. In 2013, visitors had another opportunity to explore the breadth and significance of the Edey collection through an exhibition that presented fourteen watches and eleven clocks from his bequest.
The exhibition illustrated the stylistic and technical developments of timepieces from 1500 to 1830. Edey's remarkable collection of Renaissance clocks was represented by a masterwork by Pierre de Fobis, and his interest in watches could be seen in significant examples signed by George Smith, Henry Arlaud, Pierre Huaud II, Julien Le Roy, Thomas Mudge, and Abraham-Louis, and Antoine-Louis Breguet.
Also included in this presentation were five spectacular clocks on loan from Horace Wood Brock. Never before seen in New York City, they reflect the precision and splendor of the art of clockmaking in eighteenth-century France. This exhibition was organized by Charlotte Vignon, Associate Curator of Decorative Arts.
Clock: Mantel Clock Representing Study and Philosophy, by Renacle-Nicolas Sotiau »
Major funding for the exhibition was provided by Breguet.
Additional support was generously provided by The Selz Foundation, Peter and Gail Goltra, and the David Berg Foundation.
The Frick Collection was proud to participate in Madison Avenue Watch Week, April 8-13, 2013.