Tuesday, March 21, 2023
|
|
 |
BY
BRITTANY GOOD
|
|
|
|
Fig.
1: John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925)
Isabella
Stewart Gardner, 1888
Oil on cavas, 74? x 31½ inches
|
One of the
foremost female patrons of the arts, Isabella Stewart Gardner’s
(1840–1924) (Fig. 1), interest in collecting began in the 1880s
after attending lectures on art history and readings of Dante at Harvard
College. Enamored by the writer, Gardner began collecting Dante’s
rare editions. In the coming years her interests grew and she began
collecting Dutch and Italian paintings and, in 1894, Gardner turned
to the young art historian Bernard Berenson (1865–1959) for
advice on her acquisitions. Under Berenson’s instruction Gardner
added Sandro Botticelli’s (ca. 1445–1510) Lucretia, Titian’s
(Tiziano Vecellio, ca. 1488–1576) Europa (Fig. 2), and Rembrandt’s
(1606–1669) Self-Portrait to her holdings. To this day, Europa
is revered as the most important work in Boston by many museum directors
in the area.
|
 |
|
Fig. 2: Titian
(Tiziano Vecellio) (Italian, circa 1488–1576) Europa, about
1560–62
Oil on canvas, 70 x 807/10 inches
|
By 1896
Gardner and her husband, Jack (1837–1898), realized that their
Back Bay home was not large enough to house their growing collection.
With the intent of opening a museum, the couple hired architect William
T. Sears to design a building to house their works of fine and decorative
arts. In 1903 Fenway Court, facing Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald
Necklace park system, opened to the public, becoming the Isabella
Stewart Gardner Museum after her death. Containing more than 2,500
works including paintings, sculptures, textiles, furniture, drawings,
silver, ceramics, illuminations, rare books, photographs, and letters,
the Gardner’s is the only private art collection in which the
building, collection, and installations are the creation of one individual.
This unified vision is reflected in the comments of the Gardner’s
friends, who noted that the museum was “an entire work of art
in itself.”
|
 |
|
Fig. 3: Courtyard
garden display. Photography
by Clements + Howcroft, 2008.
|
Designed
with the palaces of nineteenth-century Venice in mind, the museum
stands three stories tall and boasts a flower-filled courtyard (Fig.
3). Mrs. Gardner worked fervently to create a warm, intimate atmosphere,
with numerous galleries following a loose organization; each room
assembled with more concern for making an appealing display than keeping
works of the same medium or time period together. Though her goal
was “the education and enrichment of the public forever,”
she wanted visitors to appreciate art for what it was, rather than
focus on historic background.
|
 |
|
Fig. 4: John Singer
Sargent (American, 1856–1925), El Jaleo, 1882.
Oil on canvas, 913/10 x 137 inches
|
Isabella Gardner was a friend to such luminaries
as John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) (Figs. 1, 4), James McNeill
Whistler (1834–1903), and Henry James (1843–1916), and
the museum became a hub for artists as well as musicians, dancers,
and intellectuals. This stimulating environment has continued, with
concerts and performances held in the 4,000-square-foot Tapestry Room
gallery (Fig. 5) and an active Artist-in-Residence program to facilitate
the future of working artists.
When she died, Mrs. Gardner left a one million dollar endowment to
the museum and outlined stipulations for its support, stating specifically
that the permanent collection not be significantly altered. The museum
has worked ardently to fulfill her wishes. The charge to preserve
the museum building and its collections, combined with the need to
relieve stress from increasing attendance on one of the most celebrated
tapestry halls in the country, resulted in a decision to build an
addition to the historic palace.
|
 |
|
Fig. 5: Tapestry
Room, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Photography by T. E. Marr
and Son, 1926.
|
In January
2012, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum opened a new building situated
approximately fifty feet behind the original structure (Fig. 6). Joined
by a glass corridor, the new wing was designed by Renzo Piano, who
incorporated old and new building fabric and a masterful use of light,
much in the manner of Mrs. Gardner’s museum. Overseen by Anne
Hawley, the Norma Jean Calderwood director of the museum, the extension
includes a music hall, a new changing exhibition gallery for historic
and contemporary art, an educational classroom, new conservation labs,
and greenhouses and gardens. In the original palace, historic gallery
space has been returned closer to Mrs. Gardner’s original compositions,
including the historic Tapestry Room.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
