The Frick Collection* has wanted to expand for a long time. In the not-too-distant past, it had its eyes on the ex-Salander O’Reilly Gallery that closed in a flameout a couple of years back. The gorgeous 45-foot-wide townhouse around the corner, at 22 East 71st St, would have made a great space, but buying it was not too be. Initially listed at $75 million, the property is still on the market at the reduced price of $50 million.

This post is about an internal expansion, though — like the Metropolitan Museum has over the past several years, the Frick has expanded gallery space within its footprint. On Tuesday, it opened the new Portico Gallery, the first major addition to the museum’s display spaces in nearly thirty-five years, achieved by enclosing the portico abutting Fifth Avenue, overlooking the gardens.

Lest you think that this is a new idea, the Frick was quick to point out that Henry Clay Frick himself wanted to do this — World War I stopped him, and then he died before returning to the plan.

Frick had intended to put his growing sculpture collection in the portico gallery, but the Frick under just-departed director Anne Poulet also added to its decorative arts collection, and the new gallery will house both. It opens with a decorative arts show, an exhibition of Meissen porcelain that are a promised gift from Henry Arnhold —  White Gold: Highlights from the Arnhold Collection of Meissen Porcelain.

I’m more a sculpture person, but the Frick has found room for only two in the mix, both from the 18th century. Jean-Antoine Houdon’s The Dead Thrush (above), a long-term loan from the Horvitz Collection, Boston, and Diana the Huntress, “a signature work of The Frick Collection.”

That’s the new gallery at right. Sculpture will look splendid there, don’t you think?

UPDATE: You can takes virtual tour by clicking on this link.

Photo Credits: Courtesy of the Frick

*I consult to a foundation that supports the Frick

Well if anyone needed evidence that the rich are still with us — despite the fact that their income, too, took a dive in the last few years — just take a look at auction results from yesterday.

At Sotheby’s, a business contract sold for “$1,594,500, many multiples of the $100/150,000 estimate,” with six bidders vying fiercely for it. The contract, of course, was historical — the one signed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founding Apple Computer. But that essentially means it was an early autograph of Steve Jobs. Eduardo Cisneros, CEO of Cisneros Corporation, won the day.

Wayne, btw, wrote the 2 1/2 page contract. He gave 45% each to Jobs and Wozniak and 10% to himself. But he withdrew from the partnership almost immediately. And what regrets he must have — his share would be worth $2 billion-plus. 

That purchase pushed the overall total for Fine Books and Manuscripts to $7,406,138, above the $4.6/6.8 million estimate, which does not include the buyer’s premiums, even though only 66% of lots sold.

Let’s look at some comparisons from the same sale:

• a George Washington letter sent to the House of Representatives in May 1789 sold for $362,500.
• a First Edition of The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler from The Jean-Vounder Davis Collection of the Raymond Chandler Library more than doubled the high estimate to fetch $254,500
• an early Van Gogh letter that exceeded the high estimate to sell for $194,500
• a single Donatus leaf from circa 1456-1458 also fetched $302,500, ten times the $30,000 high estimate

At Christie’s, meanwhile, La Perigrina — a 16th century pearl owned most recently by Elizabeth Taylor — soared to more than $11.8 million, versus a pre-sale estimate of $2- to $3 million. That’s the highest price ever for a pearl. But we knew this one would happen in an age of celebrity.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Sotheby’s

Tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal carries my review of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Alice Walton’s excellent adventure in building a world-class collection in less than a decade. It’s online now.

Unlike many others in the art world, I have always believed that Walton was doing a good thing, bringing art to an area that sorely lacked the real thing. I have never understood the logic of those who complained about her efforts, as if non-city-dwellers should be content to travel to see art, and then, at the same time, argued for bigger government budgets for art, namely at the National Endowment for the Arts. Don’t they see the connection between knowledge of real art and support for more? I have no problem with the fact that she bought Kindred Spirits from the New York Public Library.

But that doesn’t mean I gave Crystal Bridges a positive review. It’s good, but not great — at least not yet. For a start, the building has major flaws. I mention a few (the review is less than 1100 words), starting with an awkward entrance. Visitors are met by a graceful semicircular curve inscribed with the museum’s name, only to find that they must walk past this faux entrance, around the corner to an elevator that descends to the lobby. Yes, the museum is lodged in a ravine, but surely a more elegant entryway could have been found. How about escalators, which can be beautiful?

Once you’re inside the galleries, the flow is mostly good — except you can’t get out without retracing your steps or rushing to the finish. Thoughtfully, the building does provide rest areas, filled with art books and seats, and opportunities to go outside. But those grace notes lengthen the time of a visitor’s stay — nothing wrong with that, except for those with limited time.

The “mostly” qualifier above was necessary because of the so-called 20th Century area, which has, as I wrote, side galleries that function as “tributaries off the main rivers of art history.” These are easily missed. The gallery suites for earlier art also have side galleries, but either their location, the lighting, or the hangings somehow lead visitors to them.

On to the collection: Walton has delivered, as I wrote, “great moments” in some galleries (a beautiful Arthur Dove, above, is a promised gift from Walton), and strange ones in others. Despite all the commentary that she was driving art prices through the roof, she didn’t pay out in several areas when the opportunities arose. Here’s one paragraph:

Critics will go through Crystal Bridges looking for gaps, and there are many: J.A.M. Whistler and Edward Hopper are among those represented by token works, for example. There’s no late Winslow Homer, no Willem de Kooning, no combine by Rauschenberg. Ms. Walton passed on recent opportunities to purchase excellent Rothkos, Warhols and Clyfford Stills, to name just three.

But, as I add, Crystal Bridges is still in the making. It will grow and change. Meantime, it’s a darn good start.

More on what else CB does right another time, soon.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Crystal Bridges Museum

The antiquities crowd was abuzz this weekend about the top lot at Sotheby’s Thursday night sale: a marble depiction of Leda and the Swan, circa 2nd century Rome, fetched $19.1 million. The presale estimate was $2- to $3 million. (Pictured at left)

Sotheby’s said four bidders competed furiously for the piece, which came from Aske Hall (below), a Georgian estate in North Yorkshire, England. It was listed as the property of the 3rd Marquess of Zetland Will Trust, and was recently “rediscovered” there — though it had been the property of Zetland since 1789, the year George Washington was inaurgurated as President.

Hence, no running afoul of the current strictures on antiquities collecting, which puts a pox on anything whose provenance was unknown before 1970.

Yet the piece was unknown to scholars; Sotheby’s says it appears in none of the major surveys of ancient marble sculpture in English country houses, nor anything else. And though the subject figures in several other ancient marbles, this one appears to be in the best condition. See the Sotheby’s catalogue entry, here, for more information.

Sotheby’s listed the buyer as “anonymous,” but speculation among antiquities curators and collectors suggests that the piece will stay in Europe.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Museum of Art* purchased the second most expensive lot: it paid nearly $3.6 million for a marble head of Zeus, circa 120-160 A.D., estimated at $800,000 to $1.2 million. It, too, had an uncontroversial provenance. Sotheby’s says it was on the market in Rome in 1931, was received as a gift by the Art League of Daytona in 1954,and ended up in the collection of Dodie Rosenkrans, who lent it to the Met, from March 2007 to April 2008.

Quite a nice addition to the collection, no?

Whether the Leda will soon be shown in a public collection remains to be seen — it probably wasn’t purchased by one, but a couple of sources suggest that the buyer has close ties to more than one museum in Europe.

Photo Credits: Courtesy of Sotheby’s, top and bottom

*I consult to a foundation that supports the Met