The mission of the Archives is to preserve and document the rich history of The Frick Collection and Frick Art Reference Library, the Frick family, and scholarship in the fine arts. The resources available on this site reflect efforts to digitize both photographs and text-based materials, including construction images of Henry Clay Frick’s original New York residence and later The Frick Collection and Frick Art Reference Library, Frick family travel albums, images of artists and artwork, and collections relating to art collectors and collecting. Contact the Archives.

The Photoarchive is a study collection of more than one million photographic reproductions of works of art by fourth to mid-twentieth century artists trained in the Western tradition. Each photograph is accompanied by historical documentation that traces the essential elements of the biography of a work of art — changes of attribution, ownership, and condition. The images together with the historical documentation provide an unparalleled resource for the study of the history of art. At present, the Frick is systematically digitizing the Photoarchive collection and making it available on this site.

The Frick Art Reference Library has book and e-book collections relating mainly to paintings, drawings, sculpture, and prints from the fourth to the mid-twentieth centuries by European and American artists. The decorative arts are a secondary area of collecting. Within these subjects the collections focus on, to name a few related to this site:  Attributions, Auction Sales, Collecting, Provenance, Exhibitions, and Collectors.

 

Auction catalogs make up more than 90,000 volumes in our collection. The catalogs represent 1,000 auction houses in Europe, Australia, and the Americas, ranging in date from the eighteenth century to the present. Annotated catalogs and price lists, when available, have been acquired to provide additional sales information. Unique and rare catalogs continue to be added. We are currently digitizing many of our auction catalogs, which will be added to the ones already available on this site.

We strive to make all items accessible to as many viewers as possible by providing access through the Internet Archive, which offers a wider range of formats for download. We recognize accessibility as an ethical responsibility and encourage viewers to explore our collection on the Internet Archive here.