The Frick Collection has an amount of European masterpieces. The building itself is based on a French
Chateau, minus the third floor, which was never completed due to a financial change in the Frick
household.
I want you to really enjoy the works of art and take them in carefully. I have listed the artists that are
“must see” but that does not mean that the other artists can be ignored. I did this due to our time
constraint. Under each artist I ask a question, most of which can be answered briefly. Please fill out your
answers and hand this sheet back to me when we return to the bus. You do not need to do this in the
order I have listed. I have given you artist by country, not by where they are hung in the museum. This is
more a guide to looking. Hopefully you will return on your own for a more in depth experience.
Italian:
Bellini: His painting of St. Francis is one of the most famous of Venetian Renaissance works. Look
carefully at color and the use of light. Tell me about light and color in this work.
Cimabue: Tell me about the use of perspective in this work from the Gothic period.
Duccio: Tell me about the composition of this Gothic work.
Dutch:
Hals: Choose a portrait by this artist and tell me about his brushwork. How does he make you feel
about the person he is painting?
Rembrandt: Choose a self portrait and tell me what the artist reveals about himself and how he does
this.
Vermeer: You saw several Vermeer works at the Met. Do these works fit into your idea of a Vermeer or
are the different from what you expected. Why.
Flemish:
Bruegel: What kind of scene does he paint? Is this usual from what you have seen? If so why and if not
why.
Van Dyke and Rubens: Compare and contrast their use of color and brushstroke. How are they similar,
different?
German:
Holbein: The works here are of very famous people in British history. Choose one portrait and tell me
how Holbein has captured this person’s importance in paint.
Spain:
El Greco: What does he do to the human form?
Goya: Choose one and explain how Goya paints emotion.
Velasquez: How does the brushstroke change as you move closer or further from this painting?
French:
Boucher and Fragonard: What do their works tell you about the lifestyle of the French aristocrat?
Ingres: Do you see any brushstrokes in this work? What does he make us think of the woman
portrayed? How does he do this?
Degas: What perspective did Degas do this painting from, where are we standing in relation to the
image?
Manet: Manet cut a larger painting to make this smaller painting. If I had not told you this would you
have known? Why?
England: Constable and Turner both painted nature but had very different viewpoints about how man
and nature related. How did Constable view man and natures relationship and how does he show this.
How did Turner view the relationship of man and nature and how did he show it?
American:
Stuart: What does this painting make you think of?
Whistler: He painted portraits that were influenced by Japanese art. He even made some of the clothes
the women wear. I know we have not studied Japanese art but can you find things in these paintings
that remind you of Japanese concerns? Also how does he use color?