Pittsburgh Meets New York at The Frick Art Museum

Vermeer, Monet, Rembrandt: Forging the Frick Collections in Pittsburgh and New York explores the Fricks’ shared passion for art collecting, how their iconic acquisitions shaped the museums they established, and how we define great art today.

Vermeer, Monet, Rembrandt features awe-inspiring masterworks, including works by Titian, Rembrandt, Monet, Degas, Whistler, El Greco, Ingres, and Vermeer—one of only 36 known works by the artist in the world. The exhibition marks a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see artworks from these two extraordinary collections alongside—and in some cases reunited with—one another.

With three dozen pieces from the New York collection combined with the already impressive Frick Art Museum collection in Pittsburgh, there can be a lot to take in! Here are just a few reasons why this exhibition is so unprecedented:

• Girl Interrupted at Her Music is one of only 36 confirmed works by Vermeer in the world. The painting once briefly hung in Clayton before being relocated to the Fricks’ New York home.
• This exhibition marks the first time a Vermeer has been in Pittsburgh since Vermeer’s Milkmaid was at the Carnegie Museum of Art in 1940.
• Works by some of the best-known artists featured in this exhibition, including Vermeer, Monet and Rembrandt, have rarely been exhibited outside of major US cities. It's largely unprecedented to have so many significant works in Pittsburgh.

Find the full list and more about each painting here.

Despite the revered way these painters are talked about today and the millions their art sells for, I think it's helpful to remember how much these were just everyday people who loved creating art and were often struggling to get by. Remember some of these fun facts I discovered while researching that makes this art exhibition all the more relatable:

• Rembrandt kept a pet monkey in his studio with him (it even shows up in some of his self portraits). Today that monkey would probably have its own Instagram account.
• Later in life, Claude Monet suffered from cataracts and continued to paint prolifically in spite of those limitations. Could that be a reason he painted so many blurred forms as he aged?
• What a homebody. Vermeer was an innkeeper who later got into painting. He stayed in his hometown his whole life!
• Edgar Degas made one sculpture during his career, which debuted to a mixed reception and critics calling it ugly. Today, of course, it's recognized as a masterpiece.
• Proving age is just a number, Titian continued painting well into his 80s which included some his most prodigious works.
• Despite their names now being etched in history, many of these artists suffered financial hardships throughout their life, with some even destroying their own works to avoid creditors.