“The Frick Collection” moved back into its original home at the Henry Clay Frick Mansion on April 17. 

Upon completion of the five-year, $220 million renovation, a private black-tie gala was held weeks before the official public reopening.

What once was the home of the railroad mogul, decorated with his hand-selected art collection, was cemented into New York’s history upon the passing of him and his wife.

Frick and his wife passed in 1919 and 1930, respectively. The mansion was willed to be converted into a museum.

The very essence of “The Frick Collection” has been recrafted by world-class artisans who perfectly encompassed the intricate details and designs, in an identical replication of Henry Clay Frick’s Gilded Age mansion on 70th Street, in New York City. 

Selldorf Architects, a New York-based firm, is the mastermind behind the renovation.

A total of 105 pieces from the collection, over the course of its closure, were temporarily housed at The Whitney HQ on Madison Avenue — including paintings, vases, and clocks.

Not only was the entirety of the original building preserved, but Selldorf also constructed three new galleries in her breathtaking design.

The closure allowed for the return of existing rooms in the Frick mansion to their original state, through archival research of the home’s early 1900s interior. 

Lush velvet green walls made of 90 individual panels were sewn together and hung as a background for the artworks; 3D resin-printed chandelier pieces were hand-brushed with gold leaf and tinted to mimic old stains of cigar smoke mounted on the ceilings; and 100% silk French passementerie finishes were added in each room. These are only a few examples of the pristine decorum now on display in the museum.

Continuing through the home, a newly opened second floor — where Frick and Adelaide’s boudoir are located — is now “repurposed as galleries for Chinese porcelain, Renaissance medals, Bouchers and Constables. What used to be a bathroom is hung with French Rococo pictures,” The New York Times said.

Xavier Salomon, deputy director of The Frick, mentions that the pieces have now returned to their “new old home” at the mansion across from Central Park, in The Frick Collection Renovation Stories.

In these three new gallery rooms, the artworks are now accurately displayed, allowing visitors to ignite their imagination and tap into the Frick’s everyday admiration of the pieces.

“Part of the Frick’s appeal is that it is a great museum that hardly feels like a museum at all,” Charlotte Higgins, from The Guardian, said.

Selldorf’s vision went below the Earth’s surface — hence the newly dug-out, clam-shaped theater. With seating for 220, painted in a pearly white and surrounded by curvaceous walls, she describes the intention of this design as resembling “the sky when you cannot identify a color.”

Looking outside at the carved limestone façade, Selldorf has built a seamless transition from old to new stone, selected to match the original carved rosettes of the Gilded Mansion. 

This includes a seasonally replanted, zen-like view garden, which can be seen by all New Yorkers who pass by.

With numerous experts by Selldorf’s side, the complete transformation can be credited to this outstanding collaboration.

“Buying art is one thing,” Michael Kimmelman from The New York Times said. “Building a collection like the Frick’s is another.”