Anne L. Poulet

This important exhibition of terracotta sculptures by the French master Claude Michel (1738–1814), called Clodion, included eleven works from North American museums and private collections, and two signed and dated works in The Frick Collection: the Satyr with Two Bacchantes (1766) and the Zephyrus and Flora (1799). Executed from 1765 to 1802, the terracottas in the exhibition span nearly all of Clodion's long career, from the early productions of his Roman years to work executed during the reign of Napoleon.

The Frick Collection celebrated the generosity and discerning taste of former Director Charles A. Ryskamp (1928–2010) with an exhibition of works on paper from his bequest. Dr. Ryskamp's generous gift transformed the museum's holdings in drawings, enlarging them by nearly a third, while complementing the permanent collection's focus on the landscape and figural subjects favored by Henry Clay Frick. The works were exhibited for the first time at the Frick in the Cabinet, a space created by Dr. Ryskamp during his tenure as director from 1987 to 1997 and intended especially for the display of works on paper.

The Frick continued to add to its holdings, and the 1997 gift of a painting inspired a major 2006 exhibition on the artist Jean-Étienne Liotard (1702-1789). This presentation offerd the public a singular opportunity to become better acquainted with one of the most original and engaging artists of eighteenth-century Europe, who enjoyed an international reputation in his day, often painting portraits of monarchs and their children in London, Vienna, Parma, and Amsterdam.

The Frick Collection exhibited a selection of Meissen porcelain from the collection of Henry Arnhold. One of the greatest private holdings of early Meissen assembled in the twentieth century, the collection was formed in two phases, the first in Dresden between 1926 and 1935 by Henry’s parents, Lisa (née Mattersdorff; 1890–1972) and Heinrich (1885–1935) Arnhold ; the second, by Henry in New York between 1972 and 2006.