New York City’s Frick Collection, a house turned museum constructed by Henry Clay Frick in 1912, is set off from busy 70th Street by a serene pocket garden designed by architect Russell Page in 1977, which would be destroyed by the museum's planned expansion.While the museum describes the 42,000-square-foot addition as something that would “further fulfill Henry Clay Frick’s long-standing vision to offer public access to its works of art," others, including a group of 51 prominent artists and architects — Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, and Frank Stella among them — think it would undermine exactly what they love about the place.

Under the banner of Unite to Save the Frick, this group sent a letter to the city, copied to the museum, expressing their displeasure. Provided exclusively to SEEN, the letter demonstrates a clear concern for the future of the museum’s integrity. “As professionals working in the art world … we strongly believe that the Frick’s effectiveness as a display space lies in its intimacy,” the letter reads. “Replacing the hall and garden with an institutional 106-foot tower will indeed destroy the famed Frick experience for artists and art lovers around the world.”Last year, the Page garden was named to the Cultural Landscape Foundation’s list of the most endangered art landscapes in the United States.......Continue Reading

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