Art can help remind US and Europe of special relationship, says director of reopening Frick Collection

After a $220m five-year renovation, the New York museum is set to showcase a trove of European masterpieces

Can masterpieces of European art help smooth over the fissures between the old world and the new? It's a hope, say officials at the Frick Collection in New York, which reopens next month after a five-year, $220m (170m) renovation.

Axel Ruger, the director of the museum, which began with a trove of European masterpieces including Rembrandt and Vermeer, hopes that its art could be a reminder of US-European ties in these turbulent political times.