'Possessions, Personalities And Pursuit Of Refinement'

PITTSBURGH, PENN.

:The Frick Art & Historical Center begins 2006 with a new exhibition that offers an intriguing view of its permanent collection. Opening on January 28 and on view through April 19, "Possessions, Personalities and the Pursuit of Refinement: A Fresh Look at the Collections of the Frick Art & Historical Center" presents innovative groupings of objects in the Frick Art Museum, Car and Carriage Museum, Playhouse and Clayton, many of which have never been seen in a museum setting. The exhibition includes furniture, cars and carriages, fine and decorative arts, clothing, toys and books.

At age 30, Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919) was a millionaire. The phenomenal industrial and financial expansion that made Frick's fortune in the late Nineteenth Century also created a panoply of opportunities for middle-class Americans to achieve a greater level of affluence. In response, wealthy families like the Fricks sought to establish models of taste and refinement and to distinguish themselves from the broader social structure. Ultimately, these standards were adopted by the larger culture.

In 1882 Frick and his wife Adelaide Howard Childs Frick (1859-1931) purchased their Pittsburgh home, Clayton, filling it with works of art, European antiques and fine furniture. It was here where they had four children, two of whom (Helen and Childs) survived to adulthood, and where Frick began developing an art collection that, at the time of his death in 1919, was considered to be one of the most important in private hands.

By exploring the family's life, interests and cultural ambitions, "Possessions, Personalities and the Pursuit of Refinement" provides a larger view into the values of the Victorian era.

Displays in the Frick Art Museum explore the themes of the exhibition, which show how the family's home and later their private collections formed a microcosm of culture and education.

One of the most poignant objects in the exhibition is a scrapbook on loan from the Frick Art Reference Library, which documents Helen's travels in Italy in the mid-1920s and her love of Italian art, a passion that manifested itself in the works displayed in the Italian Gallery of the permanent collection of the Frick Art & Historical Center.

Childs Frick (1883-1965), on the other hand, had a passion for science. Among other pursuits, the work he conducted in his 1911 expedition to Africa collecting specimens for Carnegie Museum of Natural History resulted in the museum's initial core holdings of African mammals, many of which are still on view today.

Illustrating this aspect of his life are boyhood playthings and books from the Frick's permanent collection and specimens on loan from Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

In the Car and Carriage Museum, visitors will find objects that illustrate the interests and opportunities for affluent and middle-class families to participate in travel and leisure activities. A lady's side saddle and riding habit speaks to leisure activities. Accoutrements for an automobile picnic and a travel diary reflect both utility and elegance.

Well-to-do Victorian parents took the education and moral upbringing of their children seriously. Unlike many other children of the time, the Frick children also enjoyed finely made, imported toys and sometimes a house of their own in which to play. In 1897 the Fricks commissioned Alden and Harlow to design a children's playhouse (converted to a visitors' center and museum shop in 1990), where a selection of toys that were cherished by Helen and Childs Frick will be on display.

So many aspects of life in Nineteenth Century America were linked by a common concern with ritual, formality and schedule. Nowhere was this more evident than in the practice of dining. To illustrate this, the dining room at Clayton will feature a dinner setting of crystal, silver and fine china.

The Frick Art & Historical Center is at 7227 Reynolds Street in Point Breeze. For information, 412-371-0600 or www.frickart.org.