Lori N.
Yelp
I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed my visit here!!! You are literally visiting the former home of Henry Clay Frick. Though it has since transformed into a museum, it feels very much like you're a guest in a home, an extremely palatial one, at that. However, all the bedrooms are located upstairs and completely roped off. It's like attending a fund raiser at the Getty home in San Francisco. Gordon Getty will be there to mingle, but you'll be confined to the public entertaining spaces on the main level of their home. You certainly can't wander pass the bedrooms and private quarters upstairs!
There's a moderately sized movie room, where you can learn more about Henry Clay Frick and the beginnings of the museum. How admirable that he stipulated in his will that he forever wanted to keep his art collection accessible to the public. Because of that, we are able to view his personal collection today in a lovely setting. Of course, a massive endowment helps bring his wish to fruition.
What I really appreciated were the complimentary and easy to navigate audio handsets that enabled everyone to experience the museum in a quiet manner. In some of the smaller rooms, it was absolutely quiet, with the ears of visitors glued to their handsets. Granted, I visited midweek and it was far from crowded, but if it wasn't for the handsets, the noise level could've easily escalated. This was in absolute stark contrast to the Guggenheim, where the combination of streaming tourists and bad acoustics left your ear buzzing upon exiting.
Given my penchant for Rococo art, my favorite rooms were the Bouche and Fragonard rooms, where you'll find Fragonard's, "Progress of Love".
As much as I love the Met, if you have limited time, you can easily exit the Frick feeling like you've actually viewed the museum in its entirety, whereas this has never ever been the case for me at the Met. Between the permanent collection and the exhibitions, I could easily spend a month visiting the Met, and still not feel a real sense of accomplishment of truly completing it.
No picture taking, except in the Garden Court.
I was able to spend a truly serene three hours here, and will return the first chance I get.