Terrific small guide to a terrific small museum. This is a wonderful book for visitors to the Frick, for clarification during one's visit, and as an aid to memory afterwards. And this is a museum that every art-lover who visits New York should see. The Frick's 178 paintings include an extraordinary percentage of "Greatest Hits" -- 3 of the 14 Vermeers in the US (there are only 35 worldwide), 3 gorgeous Rembrandts, several Hals, Van Dycks, a roomful of Fragonard, and on and on and on. Indeed, if I was obliged to recommend only one NY museum to an art-loving out of towner, unless he or she was a devout modernist, the Frick would be it. As well as all the art, the visitor has the chance to wander around a genuine turn-of-the century grand mansion, robbery barony in all its glory.

One thing, however, that the visitor may miss at the Frick is information about the paintings -- the painter and title are identified, but that's it. This book meets that need splendidly. There is one page for each painting, telling you a little about the painter, and a little more about the painting. The reproductions are very good quality. And (very important for the wandering art lover, this is a small book. At 9 inches long, 5 inches across, and half an inch thick, the whole thing fits nicely into a generous handbag. There are several other guides to the Frick, but they are more expensive and much bigger, covering the many decorative objects at the museum as well as the paintings. Highly recommended. ( )

The Frick Collection: Handbook of Paintings is exactly what the title says it is: a guide to the paintings held by the Frick Collection in New York City. The museum doesn't allow photography, so this was the best way for me to remember what I saw -- especially since my favorite painting there (Emma Hamilton as "Nature") wasn't available as a post card.

The book is arranged alphabetically by painter with a short biographical blurb about the artist and then color images of the paintings accompanied by short description. The fact that all the images are in color is a very nice feature, and the reproductions are better than you might expect for the price of the book.

The collection is interesting because it is basically a display of one man's taste in art -- Frick bought art he liked, not what he was told to like. If you're every in the City, it's pay what you wish from 11-1 pm on Sundays and totally worth a visit, especially if you like Vermeer, 18th century French art, or British artists like Gainsborough, Turner or Constable. ( )