One of the great pleasures of living in London or New York is the easy accessibility of two wonderful art collections, the Wallace Collection in Hertford House, Manchester Square and the Frick Collection at 1, E.70th Street on 5th. I am a fan of Rococo art and that first drew me to the Wallace. Rococo is regally displayed at the Frick too, so to me that makes it unmissable. But the range of joys in both Collections, beyond even Rococo, is immense; permit me to share with you, or remind you of, these manifold joys.
Both collections were founded by enormously rich men, who were not entirely respectable. The Wallace was the creation of the first 4 Marquesses of Hertford, whose family name was Seymour-Conway. The 3rd Marquess, who died in 1840, was the most serious collector with a brilliant eye for French 18th century art, then deeply unfashionable. This Marquess’ favourite painting was the paint adorning the faces of the harlots of London with whom he notoriously cavorted as he lived the life of a Regency rake. The 4th Marquess who lived almost all his respectable life in Paris, owning the Bagatelle chateau in the Bois de Boulogne, diversified the Collection and was much helped by his illegitimate son, who became Sir Richard Wallace. Oddly Sir Richard was never formally recognized as his son by the 4th Marquess but was warmly embraced and cherished by his paternal grand-mother and her daughter. Sir Richard inherited the Collection and all the unentailed property from his father in 1870, becoming an MP and baronet, dying in 1890. His French wife bequeathed the Collection to the nation in 1897 and it opened to the public in 1901.
The 3rd Marquis of Hertford
Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919) was an
archetypical “robber baron”. Operating a coke business near Pittsburg, he
befriended Andrew Carnegie and played a part in the creation of Carnegie Steel
and later US Steel. He was a big-shot at the Pennsylvania Railway, but then
sold all his interests for a vast sum to Carnegie. He earned a bad reputation
for hushing up his partial responsibility, by failing to maintain the South
Fork Dam, for the Johnstown Flood of 1889, a major catastrophe causing the
death of 2,209. He was involved in the armed repression of the Homestead Strike
of 1892 and only just survived an anarchist assassination attempt that year.
Prudently deciding to move to less dangerous New York (sic!), he devoted the
rest of his life to philanthropy. He had long been an avid collector of
American painting but he then turned to Old Masters and European furniture and
artefacts.
Henry C Frick
As you enter Hertford House, your first sight
is the elegant stair-case, which once adorned the Banque de France, with
metalwork depicting money-bags and gold coin, rather blatantly even for our
taste. Amid lovely Boulle furniture and walls of Dutch cabinet-pictures, we
find one of the Wallace’s iconic paintings, The Swing by Fragonard, as
the beauty kicks her slipper over the head of her ardent wooer, epitomising the
carefree spirit of the Collection.
The Swing by Fragonard
Not to be outdone, the Frick has a whole
Fragonard Room, a truly sumptuous confection containing The Progress of Love
in 4 delectable panels.
The
Meeting from The Progress of Love
Unable to match this richness, the Wallace
counter-attacks with a surfeit of Bouchers, redolent of 18th century
eroticism.
The Rising of the Sun by Boucher
Boucher painted delicate pastorals and famous
portraits and his works grace many a staircase at the Wallace. Yet the
floorboards creak with the weight (or is it the pleasure?) of the wonderful
furniture they carry – escritoires, chairs, armoires in splendid profusion:
A Chest of Drawers by Reisener
The Frick can match this with its own exquisite
pieces spread throughout the Collection. In truth the Collections are both so
rich we should banish all thoughts of rivalry between them. Let us review some
of the iconic paintings from both: first the Wallace
Frans Hals: The Laughing Cavalier
Rembrandt: Portrait of Titus
The Frick
has an equally distinguished selection:
Vermeer: The Soldier and the laughing Girl
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Hans Holbein: Portrait of Thomas Cromwell
The
modernist critic might say that the taste displayed by these Collections is
conventional and unadventurous. Yet many others deplore the often-sloppy
technique and crowd-pleasing sensationalism of some modern artists. Both
collections are relatively sparsely visited, other galleries or exhibitions
cater for or speak to the “edgier” audience. In my view the Wallace and the
Frick, the first unchanging and the second still growing, move us with the
profundity of their artistic respect for the historic achievement of Western
Art. Visiting either is a life-enhancing experience galvanizing us with the
zest of being civilised and human.
I give you below two more works from the Frick and I finish with a personal favourite from the Wallace, the gorgeous majolica plate from lovely Urbino.
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Doge
G.Mocengo by Bellini
Maiolica Plate from
Urbino
SMD
12.06.22
Text Copyright Sidney Donald 2022
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