There are few places in New York where art, history, and intimate scale meet so effortlessly. The Frick Collection, once the private home of steel magnate Henry Clay Frick, sits quietly on the Upper East Side—an oasis of elegance amid the city’s grandeur. After a dramatic $220 million renovation, the museum’s distinctive rooms, galleries, and glowing parquet floors are open again to the public, and they have never looked more magical.
THE WEST GALLERY, THE FRICK COLLECTION | PHOTO BY JOSEPH COSCIA JR.
Originally built in 1914 as a Beaux-Arts mansion and opened as a museum in 1935 upon Frick’s death, the Frick’s essence is residential at its core—it’s New York’s only true neighborhood museum. Now fully restored and thoughtfully expanded by Selldorf Architects, with support from Beyer Blinder Belle, the updated museum includes a newly raised reception hall with a guest-shop-cafe sequence, improved accessibility, and restored historic details like marble fireplaces and ceiling murals.
The renovation added 27,000 sq ft of newly built exhibition space, enhancing the existing roughly 60,000 sq ft—bringing greater access to rooms that were once private Frick quarters. Now, the second floor includes ten gallery rooms open to visitors for the first time, including Frick’s original bedroom and drawing rooms. Precious paintings, portraits, and medals are on display where they once graced the family’s daily life.
GARDEN COURT, THE FRICK COLLECTION | PHOTO BY JOSEPH COSCIA JR.
The Frick isn’t about volume—it’s about presenting masterpieces with space to breathe. Its revamped galleries now showcase Old Master paintings by Rembrandt, Bellini, Goya, Fragonard, Vermeer, Ingres, and more—many installed as Frick first displayed them.
Featured Exhibitions
Vermeer’s Love Letters (June 18–Aug 31, 2025): For the first time, the Frick’s Mistress and Maid hangs alongside loaned works The Love Letter (Rijksmuseum) and Woman Writing a Letter (National Gallery of Ireland), uniting Vermeer’s domestic scenes in a single gallery.
Porcelain Garden: Vladimir Kanevsky (April 17–Nov 17, 2025): Commissioned floral porcelain sculptures echo the original floral arrangements in the opening of the museum in 1935.
Highlights of Drawings from the Frick Collection (April 17–Aug 11, 2025): Rarely seen works on paper by artists like Pisanello, Rubens, Goya, and Degas debut in the new Cabinet gallery.
Westmoreland Café
Opened in June 2025, this first-ever museum café for the Frick evokes Gilded Age charm, named after the Frick family’s private train car. With interiors by Bryan O’Sullivan Studio and a bespoke mural by Darren Waterston, the space offers a quiet retreat for light meals, refreshments, and thoughtful pause between galleries. Reservations are available same-day for ticket holders.
William Jess Laird
Auditorium & Library Access
Below ground, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Auditorium seats 218 guests for music, lectures, and programming—marking the Frick’s evolution into an educational center. The Frick Art Research Library is open again, complete with restored reading rooms and expanded archival access.
Accessibility enhancements like new elevators and ADA ramps ensure the historic property welcomes all visitors with dignity and ease.
The newly revamped Stephen A. Schwarzman Auditorium | Photo: Nicholas Venezia, courtesy the Frick Collection
The newly reimagined Frick Collection feels at once timeless and timely. It’s a cultural oasis—an intimate, residential-scale museum that reminds visitors that New York’s magic isn’t always loud. Sometimes, it’s the soft glow of chandeliers over velvet walls, the gentle hush of footsteps on parquet floors, and a quiet tea in a sunlit café overlooking a restored garden.
Whether you’re a longtime admirer or a first-time visitor—you haven’t really experienced the Frick until you’ve returned to this restored sanctuary of art, history, and subtle beauty.
