Helen Clay Frick: Bittersweet Heiress

by Martha Frick Symington Sanger

In 1919, at the age of thirty-one, Helen Clay Frick inherited $38 million, becoming the richest single woman in America. These riches, however, came at a price. Helen's tumultuous early life was shaped by her father's infamy as a union strikebreaker and the ensuing attempt on his life, her mother's debilitating depression, and the death of her older sister and newborn brother about a year apart. Despite these events, Helen built a luminous legacy through her lifelong commitment to social welfare, the environment, and a supreme devotion to the visual arts. Helen's philanthropy touched the lives of thousands. Her contributions included a vacation home for young female textile workers, two wildlife preserves, one a public wilderness park, a Victorian-era house museum, a pre-Civil War historic Mennonite village, a university fine arts department, two art history libraries, and the purchase of many significant works of art for her private collection, the Frick Collection in New York, the University of Pittsburgh teaching collection, and the Frick Art Museum. Through extensive period research and singular access to Frick family archives and Helen Clay Frick's personal writings, Martha Frick Symington Sanger fashions a multifaceted portrait of a complex, often misunderstood, yet indomitable humanitarian, philanthropist, and cultural force in twentieth-century America.

Genres: Biography, History

392 pages, Hardcover

First published November 28, 2007

Reviews

[Stephanie Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a physically beautiful book - full of gorgeous photos of the extensive Frick family art collection. It's also a fascinating story of a very complicated woman who rubbed shoulders with powerful men in the business and art worlds, traveled the globe in search of the highest quality pieces, amassed an astounding collection of goods and knowledge/inventory of the old world masters, and was a key benefactor to numerous young women and university students. All while harboring some questionable political/social biases. As the title suggests, her life was fraught with both highs and lows. It's extra interesting (I think) if you've visited one of the Frick collections or homes in NY or PA.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all, this is a HUGE book. Not just in length, but size! It's more like a coffee-table art book that weighs a ton; not so easy to read!

I was interested in this book because during my first tour of Clayton (the 19th century Frick family home here in Pittsburgh), the docent lingered in Helen Clay Frick's bedroom, pointing out her bed, another identical bed (for when she wanted the governess to stay with her), and a miniature bed for her doll. The docent noted the "call button panel" which had buttons that would ring bells in the kitchen, stables, or governess' room. Later we saw the children's playhouse (it currently houses the ticket office, gift shop, and offices; it's the size of a small house) where there was a bowling alley among other things. The docent added, "You can see why Helen loved her childhood room and home."

But the biography tells a different story, a story of a girl haunted early by her older sister's and infant brother's deaths. Her older brother, Childs, was sent away to boarding school, leaving her the only child at home. She then had to leave Clayton when her family decided to move to New York City. Her relationship with her father, steel magnate Henry Clay Frick, is complex and at times, creepy. But Helen inherits his passion for art and philanthropy that has benefited so many.

This book is well-researched, well-titled, and full of pictures of the art that Helen and her father collected for the Frick Museum.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

My book club read this as we live across the street from Clayton, the Frick Family home. It was interesting to read the family history of one of Pittsburgh's most prominent familes.

I knew little about Helen Clay Frick, except that she was a great patroness of the arts, never married, and a little quirky. I enjoyed the book, but it focused so much on her quest to find the perfect artwork and maintain her father's collections that I still can't help but feel like we still missed out on getting to know her as a woman.