The Frick Collection - Fragonard Room

2007
Beyer Blinder Belle
New York, NY

800 GSF

Exhibitions
Restorations

2008, IES New York, Lumen Award Citation for Integration of New Technology into a Historic Restoration

The Fragonard Room, located at The Frick Collection, houses Jean-Honore Fragonard‘s famous ensemble of paintings, Progression of Love, as well as an extraordinary group of 18th century furniture. During the room’s initial renovation in 1947, a new electric lighting system was put in place. Although innovative at the time, the fixtures brightly illuminated the gilded molding at the ceiling and only the upper part of the paintings.

The 2007 renovation gives the impression that each art panel is lit only by natural light and the room's decorative chandelier. In reality, custom fixtures concealed along the room's perimeter bathe the panels in light from floor to ceiling, mimicking the sunlight that would have been the only original light-source. Through several mock-up iterations, RDG was able to finely tune the custom fixtures and an intricate set of parts, highlighting objects on display within the room as well as the main art panels.