PURSUIT OF IMMORTALITY EXHIBIT CLOSES

The exhibition of the renaissance medal collection of Stephen K. Scher, on display at the Frick Collection in New York, closed on September 10. While photography in the exhibit area was forbidden, there was no such prohibition in the museum shop, which I visited on the final day of the exhibition. Two books have been produced, including Currency of Fame: Portrait Medals of the Renaissance (the exhibit catalog) and The Pursuit of Immortality: Masterpieces from the Scher Collection of Portrait Medals, a hardbound, smaller format overview of the collection. The former is not yet listed in Frick Museum Shop online, while the latter is available at $19.95. Also produced was a chocolate medal, this too is not available for sale online; a call to the Frick Museum Shop at 212-547-6848 may procure a sample.

Much can be said of this exhibit. I was impressed with the technical aspects – coins and medals are problematic to exhibit, but the lighting and arrangement of the pieces in various displays was executed with superb effect. A useful video demonstrated how medal casting was performed while text descriptions neatly provided historical context. There were neither too many nor too few pieces on display, creating an experience digestible by both the general public and the advanced collector. The setting within the Frick was sheer elegance – it is hard to compete with a personal residence of the gilded age that has been meticulously preserved since the deaths of Henry Clay Frick (1919) and his wife Adelaide Childs Frick (1931). We are all in debt to Stephen Scher for making this magnificent exhibit possible.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW BOOK: SCHER COLLECTION OF PORTRAIT MEDALS (http://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n30a06.html)

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