Frick Art Reference Library

One Hundred Years at the Library: Monuments Men and Women

January 27, 2023

Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, explores one of the most fascinating eras in the Frick Art Reference Library’s hundred-year history. A photograph from the 1940s sheds light on the creation of maps at the library during World War II, which were made to prevent the destruction of at-risk cultural sites and works of art in war areas.

One Hundred Years at the Library: Surrealism in Print

October 21, 2022

As we continue celebrating the centennial of the Frick Art Reference Library, Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, explores an unexpected strength of the library’s collections: materials on modern art. In this post, Stephen discusses a sample of the library’s exhibition catalogs from the Surrealist movement, which began in Paris in 1924, the same year the Frick Art Reference Library opened its first dedicated building.

One Hundred Years at the Library: From Prints to Pixels

July 15, 2022

As we continue to celebrate the Frick Art Reference Library’s one-hundredth anniversary, Kerri A. Pfister, Photoarchivist, guides us through the library’s collections of reproductions, which have enabled the widespread study of art history. From printmaking to photography to digital imagery, the library has offered cutting-edge technologies through the ages to fulfill its mission of making art resources accessible to the public. Objects featured in this post are part of the celebratory publication One Hundred Objects in the Frick Art Reference Library, available in the Frick’s shop.

One Hundred Years at the Library: A Dedicated Staff

May 16, 2022

In commemoration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the Frick Art Reference Library, Sally Brazil, Barbara G. Fleischman Associate Chief Librarian for Archives and Records Management, looks back on the lifeblood of the library through the decades—its incredible staff. Discover photographs, scrapbooks, drawings, and archival materials documenting the contributions of generations of knowledgeable staff members, who have guided the library’s mission and growth over the past century. Objects featured in the post are part of the celebratory publication One Hundred Objects in the Frick Art Reference Library, available for purchase in the Museum Shop.

Data Discoveries: Completing the Picture of Artists in the Photoarchive

June 29, 2021

Emma Claire Marvin, a spring/summer 2021 practicum student and content consultant in the Frick Art Reference Library, explains her work on the library’s ongoing Wikidata project. The project enhances the online discoverability of artists represented in the Photoarchive, and Emma Claire describes her research that contributed to the creation of a brand-new Wikidata “item” for lesser-known French artist Marie Perrier (1864–1941).

Remembering Helen Sanger, Frick’s First Mellon Chief Librarian

September 23, 2020

Color photograph of Frick Art Reference Library staff, around 1990.
Helen Sanger (1923–2020), the Frick Art Reference Library’s first Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, passed away in July at the age of 96. Her forty-seven-year career at the library shaped the institution profoundly, and her legacy lives on in many areas of its initiatives.

Selection from "Competing Truths"

competing truths symposia introduction cover

This event was a two-day symposium held at the Italian Academy of Columbia University and The Frick Collection on November 15 and 16, 2019.

These videos reflect a selection of the symposium at The Frick Collection. 

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