Michael Friedsam

Michael Friedsam
Born1860
Died1931
NationalityAmerican

Col. Michael Friedsam (1860–1931) was an American philanthropist of New York City. Friedsam was the former president of B. Altman and Company and one of the premier art collectors in America at that time.

The Friedsam residence located at 44 East 68th Street was built in 1921. The five-story building fashioned in limestone was designed by Frederick Frost, with wrought ironwork by Samuel Yellin. Friedsam's collection contained numerous masterpieces by artists such as Vermeer, Rembrandt, Jan Van Eyck, and Botticelli. After Friedsam's death in 1931, the residence became a top-rated Catholic high school for girls, Dominican Academy. Many of the original architectural elements, including carved marble fireplaces, stained glass windows, and ornate woodwork, are still in place today creating a unique environment for learning.

Friedsam never married and left his estate valued at $20 million ($470 million in 2023)[1] to charities and public bequests.[2] A large part of his collection was bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (then valued at $2.5 million; $60 million in 2023), and another part to the Brooklyn Museum of Art (then valued at $130,000).[3] Today the Brooklyn museum would like to divest some of the works but are restricted by the bequest.[4]

The list of paintings from the MET bequest still in the collection are:

image title painter date accession number The Met url
A Peasant Woman Picking Fleas off a Dog Adriaen Brouwer 32.100.1 MET
The Brawl copy after Adriaen Brouwer 1700s 32.100.2 MET
A Peasant with a Bird Adriaen Brouwer 32.100.3 MET
The Lacemaker Nicolaes Maes 1656 32.100.5 MET
Country House near the Water Jan van Goyen 1646 32.100.6 MET
Portrait of a Man Spanish (Andalusian) Painter 1700s 32.100.7 MET
Frans Hals (1582/83–1666) Copy after Frans Hals 1560s 32.100.8 MET
The Reader Eglon van der Neer 32.100.9 MET
A Young Woman in a Landscape an anonymous Dutch painter 1636 32.100.10 MET
Sports on a Frozen River Aert van der Neer 32.100.11 MET
Barnyard Scene Anthonie van Borssom 32.100.12 MET
Grainfields Jacob van Ruisdael 1668 32.100.14 MET
Woman with a Water Pitcher, and a Man by a Bed ("The Maidservant") Pieter de Hooch 1667 32.100.15 MET
Winter Scene Style of Jan van de Cappelle 1990 32.100.16 MET
The Allegory of Faith Johannes Vermeer 1670 32.100.18 MET
Sentimental Conversation Quirijn van Brekelenkam 1660s 32.100.19 MET
Equestrian Portrait of Cornelis (1639–1680) and Michiel Pompe van Meerdervoort (1638–1653) with Their Tutor and Coachman ("Starting for the Hunt") Aelbert Cuyp 32.100.20 MET
The Smokers Adriaen Brouwer 32.100.21 MET
Bellona Rembrandt 1633 32.100.23 MET
Sebastian Andorfer (1469–1537) Hans Maler zu Schwaz 1517 32.100.33 MET
The Annunciation Petrus Christus 1422
1450 		32.100.35 MET
Man Weighing Gold Adriaen Isenbrandt 32.100.36 MET
Frans Francken I (1542–1616) Workshop of Peter Paul Rubens 1700s 32.100.37 MET
The Annunciation South Netherlandish Painter 1500s 32.100.38 MET
The Nativity South Netherlandish Painter 1460 32.100.39 MET
The Nativity Gerard David 32.100.40a MET
Saint John the Baptist; Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata Gerard David 1490s 32.100.40bc MET
A Donor Presented by a Saint Circle of Dieric Bouts 1460 32.100.41 MET
Virgin and Child Workshop of Peter Paul Rubens 32.100.42 MET
Portrait of Francesco d'Este Rogier van der Weyden 1460 32.100.43 MET
The Holy Family with Saint Paul and a Donor Style of Rogier van der Weyden 1500s 32.100.44 MET
Portrait of a Young Man of the Van Steynoert Family Netherlandish Painter 32.100.45 MET
Charles V (1500–1558), Holy Roman Emperor an anonymous Netherlandish painter 1520 32.100.46 MET
Portrait of a Woman Quentin Matsys 32.100.47 MET
Portrait of a Man Quentin Matsys 1520 32.100.49 MET
Portrait of a Woman of the Slosgin Family of Cologne Barthel Bruyn the Younger 1557 32.100.50 MET
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt Follower of Quentin Metsys 1540 32.100.52 MET
Virgin and Child Attributed to Simon Bening 1520 32.100.53 MET
Salvator Mundi Workshop of Hans Memling 1475 32.100.54 MET
The Man of Sorrows Aelbrecht Bouts 32.100.55 MET
Abner's Messenger before David (?); The Queen of Sheba Bringing Gifts to Solomon; The Annunciation Master of the legend of St. Barbara 1480 32.100.56a–d MET
The Holy Family Joos van Cleve 32.100.57 MET
Virgin and Child Style of Hans Memling 1490s 32.100.58 MET
Virgin and Child Hans Memling 1470s 32.100.59 MET
The Annunciation Joos van Cleve 1525 32.100.60 MET
Portrait of a Man Circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder 1537 32.100.61 MET
Portrait of a Man Jan Gossaert 32.100.62 MET
Saint Paul with Paolo Pagagnotti; Christ Appearing to His Mother Master of the legend of St. Ursula 32.100.63ab MET
Salvator Mundi Albrecht Dürer the Elder 32.100.64 MET
Portrait of a Woman Italian (Florentine) Painter 1600s 32.100.66 MET
Portrait of a Man Domenico Ghirlandaio 1448 32.100.67 MET
Portrait of a Young Man Biagio d'Antonio 32.100.68 MET
The Story of Joseph Biagio d'Antonio 32.100.69 MET
Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Workshop of Bernardo Daddi 1400s 32.100.70 MET
Selvaggia Sassetti (born 1470) Davide Ghirlandaio 1487s 32.100.71 MET
Madonna and Child with Saints Jerome and Francis Italian (Umbrian) Painter 1600s 32.100.74 MET
Madonna and Child with Saints Giovanni di Paolo 1454 32.100.76 MET
The Legend of the Infant Servius Tullius Bonifazio Veronese 32.100.78 MET
Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Angels Pseudo-Pier Francesco Fiorentino 1500s 32.100.79 MET
The Nativity with Saints Ridolfo Ghirlandaio 32.100.80 MET
Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist Andrea Solari 32.100.81 MET
Christ Crowned with Thorns Antonello da Messina 32.100.82 MET
Saints Catherine of Alexandria, Barbara, Agatha, and Margaret Giovanni di Paolo 32.100.83a–d MET
Madonna and Child with Angels Cosimo Rosselli 32.100.84 MET
Doge Andrea Gritti (1455–1538) Workshop of Titian 1600s 32.100.85 MET
Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints James Minor and Lucy Paolo Veneziano 32.100.87 MET
Portrait of a Man North Italian Painter 1597 32.100.88 MET
Head of the Madonna Franciabigio 32.100.89 MET
Madonna and Child Italian (Venetian) Painter 1500s 32.100.93 MET
Madonna and Child Ercole Banci 1600s 32.100.94 MET
The Miraculous Communion of Saint Catherine of Siena Giovanni di Paolo 32.100.95 MET
The Annunciation Italian (Marchigian?) painter 1500s 32.100.96 MET
Butler Madonna Andrea Mantegna 1460 32.100.97 MET
Portrait of a Woman Attributed to Giovanni di Franco 1450s 32.100.98 MET
Portrait of a Man in Profile ? Italian Painter 1525 32.100.99 MET
Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Peter and Paul and Angels Lippo Vanni 32.100.100 MET
Portrait of a Man North Italian Painter (MET, 32.100.101) 32.100.101 MET
The Le Cellier Altarpiece Jehan Bellegambe 1509 32.100.102 MET
Jean d'Albon de Saint-André (1472–1549) Attributed to Corneille de Lyon 1600s 32.100.103 MET
Portrait of a Man with a High Hat an anonymous French painter 1570 32.100.104 MET
Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints Catherine and Jerome Spanish Painter 1500s 32.100.105 MET
The Crucifixion, (reverse) Saint Francis of Assisi; The Resurrection, (reverse) An Abbot Saint, Possibly Saint Benedict an anonymous northern French painter 1460 32.100.106–7 MET
The Crucifixion of Saint Peter with a Donor; The Legend of Saint Anthony Abbot with a Donor; The Annunciation Northern French Painter 1500s 32.100.108–11 MET
Christ Bearing the Cross Northern French Painter 1500s 32.100.112 MET
Portrait of a Widow Style of Corneille de Lyon 1600s 32.100.113 MET
Monsieur de Bellefourière French Painter 1521 32.100.114 MET
Portrait of a Young Man an anonymous French (Burgundian?) painter 1495 32.100.115 MET
Portrait of a Man Wearing the Order of the Annunziata of Savoy anonymous French painter 1600s 32.100.116 MET
Jan (1438–1516), First Count of Egmond; Countess of Egmond (Magdalena van Werdenburg, 1464–1538) North Netherlandish Painter 1600s 32.100.118, 122 MET
Portrait of a Man in White Monogrammist LAM 1574 32.100.119 MET
Francis I (1494–1547), King of France Workshop of Joos van Cleve 1600s
1500s 		32.100.120 MET
Portrait of a Man attributed to Corneille de Lyon (MET, 32.100.121) 1600s 32.100.121 MET
Christ among the Doctors an anonymous Catalan Painter 1500s 32.100.123 MET
Charles IX (1550–1574), King of France Style of François Clouet 1561 32.100.124 MET
Charles Coguin, Abbot of Anchin Jehan Bellegambe 32.100.125 MET
Salome Dancing before Herod Spanish (Catalan) Painter 1500s 32.100.126 MET
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist Spanish (Catalan) Painter 1500s 32.100.127 MET
Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist Spanish (Catalan) Painter 1500s 32.100.128 MET
Portrait of a Man with a Gold Chain Corneille de Lyon 1600s 32.100.129 MET
Portrait of a Man of the Moncheaux Family an anonymous northern French painter 1605 32.100.130 MET
Portrait of a Man with a Pointed Collar Attributed to Corneille de Lyon 1600s 32.100.131 MET
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) Joseph Duplessis 1778 32.100.132 MET
A Village in a Valley Théodore Rousseau 32.100.133 MET
Boatman among the Reeds Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot 32.100.136 MET
Head of a Young Boy Jean-Baptiste Greuze 1763 32.100.137 MET
A Hare, Partridges, and Fruit Jan Fyt 32.100.141 MET
Portrait of a Woman Nicholas Hilliard 32.100.311 MET
  1. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  2. ^ information on Metropolitan Museum of Art website
  3. ^ "Friedsam estate put at $19,459,400". The New York Times. April 20, 1933. p. 19. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  4. ^ Man who gave Brooklyn Museum restricted gifts in 1930s leaves no heirs, so Surrogate Court to decide outcome article in Brooklyn Eagle