Henry Clay Frick: An Intimate Portrait - Hardcover

Martha Frick Symington Sanger

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0789205009 ISBN 13: 9780789205001

Publisher: Abbeville Press, 2020

Synopsis

With unprecedented access to personal letters, private family diaries, and the Frick archives at the Frick Collection in New York City and at family residences in Pittsburgh, Martha Frick Symington Sanger has written a unique and penetrating account of the life and times of Henry Clay Frick and his family. In addition, the author explains in this meticulously researched book the reason why Frick and his daughter Helen selected the paintings, sculpture, and other items that are included in the collection.

Since 1935 the magnificent art treasures of the Frick Collections have been open to the public in the New York City mansion that the family occupied. This book will enrich any visitor's experience of the Frick Collection in a way that had not been possible in previous books. The intriguing topics covered here include Frick's complex relationship with Andrew Carnegie and with other well-known business magnates; his harsh personal life darkened by the deaths of a younger daughter and infant son; and a sensitive portrayal of his daughter Helen, who was a Frick Collection trustee and chairman of the Art Acquisitions Committee after her father's death.

Illustrating this book are 370 pictures ranging from paintings and sculpture in the Frick Collection to family portraits and historical images. This biography of a key figure in the development of American industry will appeal to both art history lovers and to historians, offering a singular and compelling reading and visual experience.

About this title

Review:

WINNER of the New York Book Show Award

"The life of Henry Clay Frick industrialist, coke magnate and, later, Andrew Carnegie’s partner in the steel business is fascinatingly chronicled in this volume by his great-granddaughter Martha Frick Symington Sanger. In taking a decidedly psychological approach to her subject, Ms. Sanger may have explained a mystery that has perplexed Frick’s past biographers: What motivated one of the most notorious of the turn-of-the-century robber barons to begin collecting paintings and other artwork so assiduously?" Vartan Gregorian for The Opinion Journal

Synopsis:

Frick, notorious during the 19th century for his persecution of labor and his role in the Johnstown flood tragedy, also assembled an extensive and well-respected personal art collection. Here, his great-granddaughter reconciles these two aspects of his personality by examining how events in his public and personal lives influenced the selection of

About this edition

• Publisher: Abbeville Press
• Publication date: 2020
• ISBN 10: 0789205009
• ISBN 13: 9780789205001
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 600