Steve Martin Wants You Back in The Frick
Steve Martin stars in a video inviting the public back to The Frick Collection after its $220M, five-year renovation, highlighting its restored Gilded Age intimacy.
In a six-minute video, the comedian, actor, and seasoned art collector glides through the restored Gilded Age mansion, urging viewers to slow down, follow their eyes, and get close to the works of beauty waiting within. From Old Masters to French furniture, the Frick’s treasures are back home after a long stay in the brutalist Breuer building on Madison Avenue.
Steve Martin walks through The Frick Collection’s restored Gilded Age galleries, inviting the public to return after a $220M renovation. Courtesy of The Frick Collection. Video by SandenWolff. Photography: Noah Therrien, Jonathan Sanden, Nate Reininga, Thomas Lange
Martin isn’t just a famous face for hire. A long-time member and owner of Picassos, Bacons, and Lichtensteins, he’s one of the city’s most visible art-world insiders. His gentle pitch is underpinned by the urgency facing museums everywhere: after costly renovations, foot traffic must return – fast.
Founded in 1935 by industrialist Henry Clay Frick, the museum has long been celebrated as one of America’s finest small collections. The renovation has restored not only the house’s grandeur but its intimacy, an antidote to the blockbuster scale of many institutions.
“This is what The Frick is for,” Martin says in the video. “Slowing down, following your eye.” It’s part invitation, part challenge – and, from the man who once played a bumbling art-heist inspector, a sly reminder that beauty’s best kept secret is hiding in plain sight on Fifth Avenue.
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