Images of Interest

Black and white photograph of a monumental wall tomb
Looking Closely

Scholars celebrate photo archives for providing access to little-known works of art housed in private collections or in circulation on the art market. A feature of photo archives such as the Frick’s that is less often appreciated, however, is how comprehensively they document famous works of art on public view.

An advertisement for a painting of a landscape featuring a settlement of Native Americans.
Art and Advertising
 

 

Image depicting the Virgin Mary and Christ Child.
The Madonna of Einsiedeln
 

 

Painting
Know Your Meme
 

 

A color drawing of a vase filled with colorful tulips with a small bird's nest
Selections from the William H. Schab Gift
 

 

Three-quarter-length portrait of a man against a landscape, pointing to three pyramids.
A Cosgrave as a Copley
 
Drawing of a massive townhouse standing on the corner of a busy intersection in mid-century Manhatta
Intimate Sketches of New York

One of the most popular series completed by the American illustrator Vernon Howe Bailey was his "Intimate Sketches of New York," which records the city during a period of dramatic growth — and change.

A black-and-white photograph of a Renaissance wall tomb set in a Venetian church.
Analog Facial Recognition

Beginning in 1925, Helen Clay Frick hired the Italian photographers Mario Sansoni and Oreste Nesti to traverse Italy documenting in situ sculptures, paintings, and frescoes that other firms such as Anderson, Alinari, and Brogi had neglected to capture. On several occasions, staff of the Frick Art Reference Library requested photography of objects specifically related to works in The Frick Collection. See more at frick.org/blogs/photoarchive/analog_facial_recognition

A restored half-length painting of the Virgin Mary wearing a veil holding the Baby Jesus.
A Byzantine Madonna in Italy

The third and final entry in a series of three blog posts focusing on conservation "interventions" as recorded in the holdings of the Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive is this mysterious devotional image in the church of San Martino in Velletri, Italy.

A woman holding a young child and a small spaniel on her lap.
Lost and Found

The second of a series of blog entries focusing on conservation “interventions” as recorded in the holdings of the Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive is this problematic portrait of an engaging young woman, her son, and their serene spaniel attributed to Sir William Beechey (1753–1839).