NEW YORK, NY.- The Frick Collection is pleased to announce a new series of books, Frick Diptychs. Each publication in the series will illuminate a single important work from the museums rich collection by juxtaposing an engaging, in-depth essay by a curator with a contribution from a contemporary cultural figure. Connecting the Old Masters with the masters of today, the series is designed to foster critical engagement and be of interest to the specialist and non-specialist alike. The subject of the inaugural volume of the series, to be published in April 2018, is Hans Holbeins 1527 portrait of the humanist scholar, author, and statesman Sir Thomas More, one of the Fricks most iconic paintings. The book will include an essay by Xavier F. Salomon, the Fricks Peter J. Sharp Chief Curator, and a literary piece by Hilary Mantel, the recipient of the Man Booker Prize for her novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies.
Comments Ian Wardropper, Director of The Frick Collection, This new series sparks a dialogue in essay form between creative spirits and art historians, promising fresh insights into some of the Fricks best-known master works. Future publications in the series will feature a diptych devoted to Johannes Vermeers remarkable Mistress and Maid and a volume on a spectacular pair of porcelain and gilt-bronze candlesticks by Pierre Gouthière, the great French eighteenth-century chaser-gilder who worked for an elite clientele, including Madame Du Barry. The Vermeer book will feature an essay by Peggy Iacono, Associate Research Curator at the Frick, and a piece by film director, writer, and producer James Ivory, known for movies including The Golden Bowl, The Remains of the Day, and A Room with a View. The volume on the candelabra will feature an essay by the Fricks decorative arts curator, Charlotte Vignon, paired with a piece by the writer and artist Edmund de Waal, author of the family memoir The Hare with Amber Eyes and The White Road, which explores his obsession with porcelain.
The Frick Diptychs series is published by The Frick Collection in association with D Giles Ltd., London (approximately 56 pages; softcover) and will be sold at the Museum Shop of the Frick, online at
shopfrick.org, or by phone 212.547.6848.