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January 16, 2019

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Surrealist composite drawing of a figure with multiple crying eyes sharpening a blade
One Hundred Years at the Library: Surrealism in Print
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.
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.

Screenshot of a 3D model of an ancient Zapotec vessel.
Re-viewing Digital Technologies and Art History

Photoarchive staff was involved in the publication of a special issue of The Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy: “Re-viewing Digital Technologies and Art History."

Screenshot of the landing page of NYARC's Web archiving program
Preserving the Digital Presence of New York City Galleries
Web archiving is the process of collecting web-based content with a web crawler and preserving the content in an archival format. The Frick Art Reference Library is currently involved in a project to capture and preserve the online-only content of New York City galleries.
Woman seated at a table, looking back at a woman handing her a letter
Mapping Provenance: Vermeer's "Mistress and Maid"
Digital tools allow us to visualize the trajectory of an artwork through time and space. Explore an interactive map tracing the meandering path of Johannes Vermeer’s Mistress and Maid (ca. 1666–67) around the globe, from Vermeer’s studio in Delft in the seventeenth century to the second floor of Frick Madison in 2021.
Two women and a man at a desk holding books and marking a map with pencils and rulers
One Hundred Years at the Library: Monuments Men and Women
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.
Drawing of a woman supported by small children with wings being crowned by two men.
Drawing Lost in Spanish Civil War
photo of guide in galley instructing group
Letter from the Director: Winter 2015

This letter is reprinted from the Winter 2015 issue of the Members’ Magazine.

Tempera painting on poplar panel of Saint Lucy dressed in blue holding a martyr's palm
Curating the Visual Landscape of Our Digital World
Two conservators seated at a table in a lab
New Discoveries Offer Answers to Mystery of Frick's Vermeer
The Frick's beloved Mistress and Maid (1666–67) by Johannes Vermeer poses many unanswered questions, notably its seemingly unfinished background. A recent technical study in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Doerner Institut uncovers important new information about the painting, one of only thirty-six works attributed to the artist.