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Like was the case in many Gilded Age mansions, the staircase at The Frick Collection was a barrier to the more private, intimate spaces upstairs. The second floor, where the Frick family’s bedrooms and quiet spaces existed, has been strictly off limits to the public, still strangely upholding that old upstairs/downstairs dynamic that so many of us are familiar with thanks to shows like Downton Abbey.
That all changes on April 17, when The Frick Collection reopens to the public since 2020, after a massive renovation that’ll allow you to walk through the chambers of what was once one of the most wealthy industrialist families in the country.
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I was there in 2021 when The Frick temporarily relocated to the Met Breuer building on Madison Avenue and 75th Street, which was actually one of the coolest museum experiences I’ve had in NYC. Then in March last year, that location closed as staff prepared for the big return at 1 East 70th Street. This week, Time Out New York was lucky enough to get a sneak peek of all the changes that have been made to this landmark full of incredible art.
When it opens next month, you’ll quickly notice that the first floor’s galleries are largely the same, but underneath it all, a lot of work has been done to “bring back our great galleries and spaces to their original glory with rewoven wall hangings—damask and velvets—and meticulously cleaned” wood paneling, carvings, marble, plaster, bronze fixtures and hardware, according to Ian Wardropper, The Frick’s former director who heralded the project to completion. The Frick’s infrastructure also underwent an upgrade with ADA-accessibility, new lighting and improved skylights, windows and doors. Its facade was also restored, returning it to a gorgeous bright limestone. Outside its windows, you can see that the garden (with its iconic Japanese magnolia trees) has been returned as much as possible to its 1977 design by Russell Page.
The Collection’s iconic masterworks have been reinstalled in these restored galleries, and more art is on view than ever with the addition of the Ronald S. Lauder Exhibition Galleries on the main floor (its collection is now almost double what it was at its opening in 1935). Even more impressive, there’s a new 218-seat auditorium, an airy class room, an expanded reception hall, new state-of-the-art conservation studios and the museum’s first-ever cafe, which is set to open later this spring.
But what’s worth really getting excited for is the ability to now walk up the Museum’s grand staircase like a member of the Frick family to access the never-before-seen private rooms that once belonged to Henry Clay Frick, his wife Adelaide Childs and their children. For decades, the upstairs served as the Museum’s offices.
“As director, I was always very self-conscious when I would move aside the velvet rope that you may remember at the foot of the staircase, and walk up the stairs, and people would say, ‘Who is that guy? Why can't I go upstairs?’” Wardropper admits. “So finally … we now allow everyone to be able to come up to the second floor and experience the entire mansion—both the more intimate private quarters upstairs, but also the spaces you know well downstairs, the grand entertainment spaces of the mansion.”
The second floor is unlike any other space in New York City. Here, you’re viewing a collection inspired by the interests of a wealthy family within their own home, in their once-private spaces, including Mr. Frick’s own bedroom, called “The Walnut Room.”
A couple of antechambers and sitting rooms serve as smaller galleries for ceramics, Renaissance gold-ground panels and even a collection of portrait medals ranging in size and age.
The second floor’s hallways, however, are what really charmed me. Make sure to look up to see ornate ceiling murals that’ll take your breath away.
This is definitely one to put on your list this spring.
“We are now looking forward to establish [The Frick Collection] yet again in the public consciousness as really the place of wonder, of joy, inspiration, imagination, and perhaps, solace,” says Axel Rüger, the museum’s new director. “All I can say is The Frick is back!”
Coming up at The Frick Collection:
The Frick Collection opens to the public on April 17. Museum hours this spring are Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, 1am to 6pm, and Friday, 11am to 9pm.
Check out sculptor and ceramicist Vladimir Kanevsky’s porcelain flowers that pay homage to the floral arrangements made for the Frick’s original opening in 1935 while you visit, grab the last tickets to The Frick’s spring music festival from April 26 to May 11, that’ll showcase classic and contemporary works, and its inaugural special exhibition, “Vermeer’s Love Letters,” from June 17 to September 8, 2025.
Admission is $30 for adults and $22 for seniors and $17 for students with ID. You can pay what you wish on Wednesdays, 2 to 6pm.