(b West Overton, PA, Dec 19, 1849; d New York, Dec 2, 1919).
American industrialist, collector, and museum creator. Frick received little formal education and went to work at an early age as a bookkeeper. By the early 1870s he had earnt enough money to buy up coke fields in Western Pennsylvania, processing the coke in his own ovens. In a few short years he was the major supplier of fuel for Pittsburgh’s iron and steel industries and by the time he was 30 had earned his first million. In celebration he travelled to Europe with Andrew Mellon who, in 1937, would donate his collection and money for the establishment of Washington’s National Gallery of Art. In London they visited the Wallace Collection, which would later serve as prototype for Frick’s New York house–museum. After marrying Adelaide Howard Childs (1859–1931) on 15 December 1881, Frick bought and expanded Clayton, a 23-room home, now part of the Frick Art and Historical Center, Pittsburgh....
