Coverage

"New York's Museum of Modern Art is not just a collection of some of the world's most serious art, it's a real workout of the senses.

".....the audio device (free with the entry fee) helped bring meaning to the paintings. Some of the commentaries even had sound effects – a dog barks and a clock ticks while the post-impressionist Pierre Bonnard's The Bathroom (1932) is described.

"The audio commentary for Marc Chagall's I and the Village (1911) featured a mooing cow. I wondered if it came from the giant cow's head peering at the green man's face or the smaller cow being milked by a tiny woman...."

The Frick Collection is still housed in the beautiful home of Henry Clay Frick, a steel magnate. The mansion was designed by Carrere and Hastings, the same architects who worked on the New York Public Library.

The home is based around two beautiful courtyards that feature fountains, palms and frogs spouting water; wonderful spots to reflect on a fabulous collection of old masters.

Again, the audio commentary is brilliant. Someone went to great lengths to really set the scene about two very special paintings.

On one side of an impressive fireplace, Holbein's two old adversaries, Sir Thomas More and Cardinal Wolsey, face off. Their hostility towards each other over Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII's wives, is palpable.

Frick clearly had good taste and assembled a collection that includes Rembrandt, Reynolds, Corot, Gainsborough, Lippi and some fabulous furniture from the 18th century court of France. Much of it is in the rococo style, with lots of marquetry inlay and gold gilt. Not everybody's cup of tea but it works in the Frick.

One of the few American painters in the collection is Whistler and although his mother isn't there, the Frick contains some beauties. There are 10 of Whistler's works, including full-length portraits of a couple of aristocrats and some lovely seascapes."