Tag Archives: Arts & Literature

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Videos

Cocktails With A Curator: Bastiani’s “Adoration of the Magi” (The Frick Video)

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In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” celebrate the Yuletide with Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon as he takes a closer look at Lazzaro Bastiani’s “Adoration of the Magi.” Acquired from Pierpont Morgan’s heirs in 1935—the year The Frick Collection opened to the public—this fascinating picture shows the gift-toting kings on different stages of their journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. A contemporary of Giovanni Bellini, Bastiani was considered the artist’s equal at the time and commanded similar prices for his pictures. Explore the work of this magnificent but under-appreciated artist while enjoying a festive Cranberry Bourbon cocktail—Merry Christmas!

Lazzaro Bastiani was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Venice. He was born in Padua. He is first recorded as a painter in Venice by 1460 in a payment for an altarpiece of San Samuele, for the Procuratori di San Marco. In 1462 he was paid at the same rate as Giovanni Bellini. 

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Reviews, Videos

Art History Video: 1st C. BC Roman Sculpture ‘Boy With Thorn – The Spinario’

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Spinario (Boy with Thorn), c. 1st century B.C.E., bronze, 73 cm high (Capitoline Museums, Rome), a conversation with Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Profiles, Videos

Artwork: ‘The Orange Chair, 1944’ By British Painter Cedric Morris

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Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet was a British artist, art teacher and plantsman. He was born in Swansea in South Wales, but worked mainly in East Anglia. As an artist he is best known for his portraits, flower paintings and landscapes

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Videos

Cocktails With A Curator: ‘Hoffman’s Bust of Henry Clay Frick’ (Frick Video)

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In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon takes a closer look at Malvina Cornell Hoffman’s marble bust of Henry Clay Frick, the museum’s founder, and considers the complicated legacy of the Pennsylvania-born industrialist. This month marks several important milestones for the Frick, including the eighty-fifth anniversary of the opening of a museum for, in Frick’s words, “all persons whomsoever.” This oft-overlooked bust was commissioned by his daughter, Helen Clay Frick, and for many years welcomed guests in the Entrance Hall at 1 East 70th Street. This week’s complementary cocktail is the Old Fashioned, a nod to Frick’s first job as an accountant for the family whiskey distillery.

Arts & Literature, History, Profiles, Videos

Video Profiles: French Nobel Prize Author Albert Camus (1913 -1960)

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This week, we’re putting the focus on Nobel Prize-winning French author Albert Camus. As 2020 saw France mark 60 years since his death in a car crash, Camus’s seminal work “The Plague” was unexpectedly thrust back into the spotlight by the Covid-19 pandemic.

From the UK to Japan, the 1947 novel established itself as a global sensation, topping sales charts and pushing publishers into a rushed reprint. But Camus’s prolific and multi-faceted career extends far beyond this viral hit. We tell you more about the author’s life, starting with his humble beginnings in French-ruled Algeria. 

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Reviews, Videos

Art: ‘Beyond The Surface’ – Monet’s “Changing Light”

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This video takes an in-depth look at Monet’s approach to painting in series, an approach that consumed his later years. From stacks of wheat in the French countryside to sites of foggy London to water lilies at his home garden in Giverny, Monet painted beloved subjects again and again, depicting changing light and atmospheric conditions in works that captivate us still today. New scientific discoveries, however, reveal that Monet’s genius goes well beyond what we see on the surface.

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Art, Arts & Literature, History, Videos

Cocktails With A Curator: Vermeer’s “Mistress And Maid” (The Frick Video)

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In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” Curator Aimee Ng pulls back the curtain on hidden details in “Mistress and Maid,” the largest of the Frick’s three Vermeer paintings and Henry Clay Frick’s final acquisition for his collection. Take a closer look at the rumpled tablecloth, the lady’s wispy curls, and the dark background to understand how this mysterious work has changed since Vermeer applied paint to canvas in the mid-17th century. For this week’s complementary cocktail, the Genever Brûlée, Aimee has dipped into the bottle of genever she featured in her summer episode on Vermeer’s “Officer and Laughing Girl.”

To view this painting in detail, please visit our website: https://www.frick.org/mistressmaid

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Videos

Cocktails With A Curator: Lawrence’s ‘Lady Peel’

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In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” Curator Aimee Ng explores the history behind Sir Thomas Lawrence’s celebrated portrait of Julia, Lady Peel. When it was shown at the Royal Academy, in 1827, this painting was hailed as Sir Thomas’s greatest portrait—and one of the great works of modern art at the time.

It’s easy to see why: the sitter projects authority, confidence, and ease despite her flamboyant, over-the-top outfit. Sir Thomas’s depiction of Lady Peel is closely related to Peter Paul Rubens’s famous “Chapeau de Paille,” which had recently entered the collection of her husband, Sir Robert Peel. In recognition of the lavish bracelets and rings worn by the sitter, this week’s complementary cocktail is the Bijou (French for “jewel”).

To view this painting in detail, please visit our website: https://www.frick.org/ladypeel

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Reviews, Videos

Art: ‘Autumn Rhythm’ – Jackson Pollock (Video)

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Autumn Rhythm (Number 30) is a 1950 abstract expressionist painting by American artist Jackson Pollock in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The work is a distinguished example of Pollock’s 1947-52 poured-painting style, and is often considered one of his most notable works.