Frick Fine Arts Building facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Henry Clay Frick Fine Arts Building
|
|
|
U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
|
The Frick Fine Arts Building at the University of Pittsburgh sits behind the Schenley Fountain
|
|
| Built | 1962–1965 |
|---|---|
| Architect | Burton Kenneth Johnstone |
| Architectural style | Neo-Renaissance |
| Part of | Schenley Farms Historic District (ID83002213) |
| Added to NRHP | July 22, 1983 |
The Henry Clay Frick Fine Arts Building is a beautiful building on the University of Pittsburgh campus. It looks like an old Renaissance style house. This building is a special part of the Schenley Farms Historic District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
You can find the Frick Fine Arts Building at the edge of Schenley Plaza. It is right across from The Carnegie Institute. This building is home to Pitt's History of Art and Architecture Department and the Studio Arts Department. It also has the Frick Fine Arts Library. Right in front of its steps is the Mary Schenley Memorial Fountain.
Contents
Building's History
The Frick Fine Arts Building stands where the old Schenley Park Casino used to be. This casino was Pittsburgh's first big arena. It even had an indoor ice skating rink! But it burned down in December 1896.
The building itself was a gift from Helen Clay Frick (1888–1984). She was the daughter of Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919). He was a rich businessman and loved art. Helen Clay Frick started the Fine Arts Department at the University of Pittsburgh in 1926. She kept giving money to it through the 1950s. That's when she decided to build a special place for the department. The City of Pittsburgh gave the land for the project to the university.
At first, Miss Frick wanted architects who had designed her father's home in New York. But later, everyone agreed on Burton Kenneth Johnstone Associates as the architects. They designed the building to look like the Villa Giulia in Rome, Italy. This villa belonged to Pope Julius III (1487–1555).
The building is made of white limestone and marble. It has a terracotta tile roof and a central courtyard. A round dome, called an octagonal cupola, sits on top. It rises 45 feet (about 14 meters) high. The building has classrooms, art studios, an art gallery, and a 200-seat auditorium. It also has a special research library. Construction started in 1962, and the building opened in May 1965.
By the late 1960s, Miss Frick was not happy. She felt the university was not following her rules for the art department and the new building. So, she stopped working with the University of Pittsburgh. Instead, she started a new place called The Frick Art Museum. It is on her family's old property, Clayton, in Point Breeze. Today, that museum is part of the Frick Art & Historical Center.
What's Inside the Building?
Today, the Frick Fine Arts Building has many different spaces. It has classrooms where students learn. There are art studios where they create art. It also has a library and art galleries. These rooms are built around an open area called a cloister. The building's center has a 45-foot (14 m) high octagon with a pyramid-shaped roof.
Above the main entrance, you can see a special portrait of Henry Clay Frick. It was made in 1965 by Malvina Hoffman. She was 79 years old when she took on the job. She couldn't sculpt it herself because of union rules. But she climbed up to oversee the work. Inside the main entrance, there is a bright neon artwork by a Chinese artist named Gu Wenda.
The building also has a large auditorium with 200 seats. This room is used for talks, shows, and special events.
Nicholas Lochoff Cloister
The Nicholas Lochoff Cloister is a very important part of the Frick Fine Arts Building. It has large paintings that are copies of famous Italian artworks. These copies were ordered in 1911 by the Moscow Museum of Fine Arts. A painter named Nicholas Lochoff made them. He worked very slowly and carefully.
Only a few paintings were finished and sent to Russia before the Russian Revolution of 1917. Lochoff could not go back to Russia because of the new government. So, he had to sell his paintings. Some were bought by Harvard University. Miss Frick bought the rest of the collection after Lochoff passed away. In 2003, the paintings were cleaned and fixed. In the gallery, you can also see beautiful marble copies of 14th-century statues. These were made by the sculptor Alceo Dossena.
Frick Fine Arts Library
The Frick Fine Arts Library is inside the Frick Fine Arts Building. It has two floors. This library holds a large collection of books for students and teachers. It helps those studying the history of art and architecture, and studio arts. The library has over 90,000 books. It also gets more than 350 magazines and journals about art. This library is one of the top 10 fine art libraries in the country.
The library's reading room is very beautiful. It has wooden walls and cabinets made by Italian artists. They are decorated with gold leaf. The library also has fancy wrought iron railings on the balconies. The floor is made of terracotta tiles. There are maple tables and matching chairs. Tall windows offer views of Schenley Park. A message on the wall shows that the library is dedicated to Henry Clay Frick.
University Arts Gallery
The University Arts Gallery has a permanent collection of art. It includes prints and drawings from the 16th to the 20th centuries. The gallery also often hosts new art shows. These shows are put on by the History of Art and Architecture Department.
Some important pieces in the collection include many prints by Jacques Callot and Gertrude Quastler. There are also 16th-18th century drawings from the Clapp and Denny families. You can find a collection of 19th and 20th century photographs. The gallery also has the Gimbel collection of American art. Plus, there are Japanese prints, Asian pottery, portraits, and paintings of Pittsburgh by artists like Hetzel, Gorson, and Kane.
Images for kids
-
-
-
-
-
Frick Fine Arts Auditorium
-
Frick Fine Arts main entrance lobby
-
-
Nicholas Lochoff Gallery
-
Nicholas Lochoff Gallery
-
The back of the Frick Fine Arts Building
-
The Spanish War memorial is a copy of The Hiker (1925) by Allen Newman and sits on the left side of Frick Fine Arts
