A Glorious Return to Partying at The Frick

Visiting the The Frick Collection, the Gilded Age mansion that houses Henry Clay Frick’s art collection, is both an extravagant and educational experience. From a historical perspective, the collection offers telltale signs about the rise of the United States as a leading industrial nation at the turn of the previous century. Frick, aided by the French brother duo dealers Duveen, amassed an impressive collection and built the mansion intending to open it to the public after his and his wife’s passing. The works represent the most sought-after at the time, ranging from society portraits to landscapes by medieval, Renaissance, and 17th-19th-century masters, as well as Chinese and European porcelain and decorative arts, in an intimate home setting. Now pair that with couture, cocktails, and dancing. Partying at The Frick is a next level experience.

“I was invited to a donor’s dinner, and each donor had their own gallery with a table for their guests,” a well-dressed gentleman gushed about his first time revisiting The Frick. “I was at a table seating forty and we ate and drank next to the art,” he continued. Yesterday marked the Young Fellows Ball’s much-appreciated return to Fifth Avenue. Commemorating the reopening of The Frick after a multi-year major renovation by Annabel Selldorf, Ukrainian artist Vladimir Kanevsky was commissioned to create realistic porcelain sculptures that matched the real flowers that adorned the space when it first opened in the 1930’s. At the press preview in April, prompted by an entertained security guard, I played guess-which-flowers-are-real and was informed that most of my guesses were wrong; Kanevsky’s craftsmanship is truly masterful. Whether you are attending a talk or simply visiting, The Frick is always marked by a gilded era air of glamour and old-world elegance, paired with openness, an ethos which the institution was founded upon. The Young Fellows Ball is no exception. There was no dining in the galleries last night, but the Bucherer x Bach Mai VIP lounge served black caviar which was deliciously decadent.

For more than twenty years, the museum’s young fellows, between the ages of 21 and 45, gather for programming while supporting the museum. This year, the event, which sold out within a day, raised $500,000. And, it is truly the event of the year; it is certainly better than the Met Gala (because with a ticket price of around $600, it is manageable with foresight). Old world New York social elite, downtowners, techies, artists, ballerinas (ABT’s principal dancer Misty Copeland was a chair this year), business people, out-of-towners, and anyone who appreciates a glamorous setting, really, gather to this party to get their pictures taken by photographers and friends in the mansion. And, most importantly, to discuss their favorite artworks. Mine is Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres Portrait of Comtesse d’Haussonville (1845) that has been moved upstairs to Henry Clay Frick’s former bedroom, where she hangs opposite George Romney’s Lady Hamilton. Her new placement sparked a conversation about Emma Hamilton, a maid and actress turned courtesan, who ended up becoming close friends with the queen of Italy after marrying a British aristocrat who became the ambassador to Italy between guests. When you live life to the fullest, anything can happen.

Photographs from the Evening

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