The Frick Collection will bring together Old Master painting and contemporary Indigenous art this fall with a new exhibition by acclaimed Cree artist Kent Monkman, whose latest work reexamines the legacy of European colonialism through one of the museum’s most celebrated paintings.
Opening Nov. 12 and running through Feb. 22, 2027, Kent Monkman: Officer and Laughing Girl will feature a series of newly created paintings inspired by Johannes Vermeer’s Officer and Laughing Girl, one of the Frick’s three works by the 17th-century Dutch master.
Installed in the museum’s Cabinet Gallery, the exhibition invites visitors to consider how European art reflected the era of global trade, colonization and cultural exchange. After viewing Monkman’s paintings, visitors can continue into the Frick’s permanent galleries to see Vermeer’s original work that inspired the contemporary series.
Monkman, one of Canada’s best-known contemporary artists, has built an international reputation for reinterpreting Western art history through Indigenous perspectives. His paintings frequently reference iconic European masterpieces while examining the historical consequences of colonization on Indigenous peoples across North America.
Central to Monkman’s work is his alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, a gender-fluid, shape-shifting figure who appears throughout his paintings as a witness, provocateur and storyteller. In the new exhibition, Miss Chief guides viewers through an imagined history of encounters between Indigenous communities and European settlers over the past five centuries, exploring themes of cultural transformation, environmental change and shifting power dynamics.
Known for combining humor, meticulous historical research and striking visual storytelling, Monkman often challenges traditional historical narratives by placing Indigenous voices at the center of scenes inspired by classical European painting.
The exhibition continues the Frick Collection’s long-running tradition of inviting contemporary artists to engage directly with works in its historic collection. Recent initiatives have encouraged modern creators to reinterpret centuries-old paintings and sculptures, creating dialogue between historical masterpieces and contemporary social and cultural issues.
By pairing Monkman’s work with Vermeer’s celebrated painting, the Frick hopes to offer visitors a new perspective on art created during the Dutch Golden Age, a period closely tied to expanding global commerce and European colonial ambitions.
The exhibition also reflects a broader movement among museums to reconsider historical collections through diverse viewpoints, encouraging audiences to examine familiar works within wider historical and cultural contexts.
For visitors, the installation offers a rare opportunity to experience one of the world’s most recognizable artistic traditions through the perspective of a contemporary Indigenous artist whose work continues to reshape conversations about history, identity and representation in museums around the world.