Isabella Stewart Gardner (1888), by John Singer Sargent.

Isabella Stewart Gardner (April 14, 1840 – July 17, 1924) – founder of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston – was an American art collector, philanthropist, and one of the foremost female patrons of the arts.

Isabella Stewart, daughter of David and Adelia (Smith) Stewart, was born in New York City. Her Stewart ancestry, by tradition, has a descent from King Fergus. ^[1]

Isabella Stewart Gardner had a zest for life, an energetic intellectual curiosity and a love of travel. She was a friend of noted artists and writers of the day, including John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, Anders Zorn, Henry James, Okakura Kakuzo and Francis Marion Crawford.

The Boston society pages called her by many names, including "Belle," "Donna Isabella," "Isabella of Boston," and "Mrs. Jack." Gardner created much fodder for the gossip tabloids of the day with her reputation for stylish tastes and unconventional behavior. Her surprising appearance at a 1912 concert (at what was then a very formal Boston Symphony Orchestra) wearing a white headband emblazoned with "Oh, you Red Sox" was reported at the time to have "almost caused a panic", and remains still in Boston one of the most talked about of her eccentricities.

Isabella Stewart Gardner in Venice (1894), by Anders Zorn (Gardner Museum)

Marriage and family[link]

Isabella married John Lowell "Jack" Gardner, son of John L. and Catharine E. (Peabody) Gardner of Boston, Massachusetts, on April 10, 1860, in New York City and thereafter moved to Boston.^[2]

Jack and Isabella had one son, John Lowell 3rd, who was born June 18, 1863. He died March 15, 1865. After his death, the couple was extremely distraught and started to travel and collect. ^[1] However, Jack's brother, Joseph P. Gardner, died in 1875, leaving three young sons. Jack and Isabella 'adopted' and raised the boys. Augustus P. Gardner was 10 years old at the time. Isabella's biographer, Morris Carter, wrote that "in her duty to these boys, she was faithful and conscientious."^[1]

Travel and collecting[link]

In 1874, Isabella and Jack Gardner went abroad, visiting the Middle East, Central Europe and Paris. Beginning in the late 1880s, they traveled frequently across America, Europe and Asia to discover foreign cultures and expand their knowledge of art around the world.

The earliest works in the Gardners' collection were accumulated from their trips to Europe especially, but also from such places as Egypt, Turkey, and the Far East. The Gardners began to collect in earnest in the late 1890s, rapidly building a world-class collection of paintings and statues primarily, and also tapestries, photographs, silver, ceramics and manuscripts, and architectural elements such as doors, stained glass, and mantelpieces. Nearly 70 works of art in her collection were acquired with the help of dealer Bernard Berenson. Among the collectors with whom she competed was Edward Perry Warren, who supplied a number of works to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Gardner collection includes work by some of Europe's most important artists, such as Botticelli's Madonna and Child with an Angel, Titian's Europa, and Raphael's The Colonna Altarpiece, and Diego Velázquez.

Isabella Stewart Gardner’s favorite foreign destination was Venice, Italy. The Gardners regularly stayed at the Palazzo Barbaro, a major artistic center for a circle of American and English expatriates in Venice, and visited Venice’s artistic treasures with amateur artist and former Bostonian, Ralph Curtis. While in Venice, Gardner bought art and antiques, attended the opera and dined with expatriate artists and writers.

Museum creation[link]

By 1896, Isabella and Jack Gardner recognized that their house on Beacon Street in Boston’s Back Bay, although enlarged once, was not large enough to house their growing collection of art.

After John L. Gardner’s sudden death in 1898, Isabella Gardner realized their shared dream of building a museum for their treasures. She purchased land for the museum in the marshy Fenway area of Boston, and hired architect Willard T. Sears to build a museum modeled on the Renaissance palaces of Venice. Gardner was deeply involved in every aspect of the design, though, leading Sears to quip that he was merely the structural engineer making Gardner's design possible.

The building completely surrounds a glass-covered garden courtyard, the first of its kind in America. Gardner intended the second and third floors to be galleries. A large music room originally spanned the first and second floors on one side of the building, but Gardner later split the room to make space to display a large John Singer Sargent painting called El Jaleo on the first floor and tapestries on the second floor.

After construction of the museum was completed, Isabella Stewart Gardner spent a year carefully installing her collection according to her personal aesthetic. The eclectic gallery installations, paintings, sculpture, textiles, and furniture from different periods and cultures combine to create a rich, complex and unique narrative. In the Titian Room, Titian's magnificent painting of Europa (1561–1562) hangs above a piece of pale green silk, which had been cut from one of Isabella Stewart Gardner's gowns designed by Charles Frederick Worth. Throughout the collection, similar stories, intimate portrayals, and discoveries abound.

The museum opened in 1903 with a grand opening celebration featuring a performance by members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a menu that included champagne and doughnuts.

Gardner lived on the fourth floor when in residence at the museum. After her death, the fourth floor served for many years as residence for the museum's director; more recently it has been converted for use as museum offices.

Death and legacy[link]

In 1919, Isabella Stewart Gardner suffered the first of a series of strokes and died five years later, on July 17, 1924, at the age of 84. She is buried in the Gardner family tomb at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, between her husband and her son.

Her will created an endowment of $1 million and outlined stipulations for the support of the museum, including that the permanent collection not be significantly altered. In keeping with her philanthropic nature, her will also left sizable bequests to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Industrial School for Crippled and Deformed Children, Animal Rescue League, and Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} Gardner, Frank A MD [1933] Gardner Memorial : Biographical and Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Thomas Gardner, Planter of Cape Ann, 1624, Salem, 1626–74, Through His Son Lieut. George Gardner ISBN 0-7404-2590-0, ISBN 978-0-7404-2590-5
2. ^ Louise Hall Tharp, "Mrs. Jack", Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 1965

Sources[link]

• Shand-Tucci, Douglass. "The Art of Scandal: The Life and Times of Isabella Stewart Gardner", Harper Collins, 1997

External links[link]

• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on Facebook
• Building on a Legacy: Gardner Museum Extension and Preservation Project
• Free Classical Music from the Gardner Museum
• Isabella Gardner's Gravesite
• Isabella Stewart Gardner's personal library on LibraryThing

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location:	Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates:	42°20′19″N 71°5′56″W / 42.33861°N 71.09889°W / 42.33861; -71.09889Coordinates: 42°20′19″N 71°5′56″W / 42.33861°N 71.09889°W / 42.33861; -71.09889
Built:	1896-1903
Architect:	Willard T. Sears[1]
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	83000603[1]
Added to NRHP:	January 27, 1983

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or Fenway Court, as the museum was known during Isabella Stewart Gardner's lifetime, is a museum in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts and near the Back Bay Fens. The museum houses an art collection of world importance, including significant examples of European, Asian, and American art, from paintings and sculpture to tapestries and decorative arts. It is the only private art collection in which the building, collection, and installations are the creation of one individual.

Today, the museum hosts exhibitions of historic and contemporary art, as well as concerts, lectures, family and community programs, and changing courtyard displays.

In honor of its founder, the museum offers free admission and occasional special events for anyone named Isabella.^[2] As of January 1, 2009, everyone receives free admission to the museum on his or her birthday.^[3]

History[link]

The museum was established in 1903 by Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840–1924), an American art collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. It is housed in a building designed to emulate a 15th-century Venetian palace, drawing particular inspiration from the Venetian Palazzo Barbaro.

Gardner began collecting seriously after she received a large inheritance from her father in 1891. Her purchase of Vermeer's The Concert at auction in Paris in 1892 was her first major acquisition. In 1894, Bernard Berenson offered his services in helping her acquire a Botticelli. Berenson helped acquire nearly 70 works of art for her collection.

The Rape of Europa (1562) by Titian is one of the most famous works in the museum.

After her husband John L. Gardner’s death in 1898, Isabella Gardner realized their shared dream of building a museum for their treasures. She purchased land for the museum in the marshy Fenway area of Boston, and hired architect Willard T. Sears to build a museum modeled on the Renaissance palaces of Venice. Gardner was deeply involved in every aspect of the design, though, leading Sears to quip that he was merely the structural engineer making Gardner's design possible. After the construction of the building was complete, Gardner spent a full year carefully installing her collection in a way that evokes intimate responses to the art, mixing paintings, furniture, textiles and objects from different cultures and periods among well-known European paintings and sculpture.

The museum opened on January 1, 1903 with a grand celebration featuring a performance by members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a menu that included champagne and doughnuts.

During Gardner's lifetime, she welcomed artists, performers, and scholars to Fenway Court to draw inspiration from the rich collection and dazzling Venetian setting, including John Singer Sargent, Charles Martin Loeffler, and Ruth St. Denis, among others. Today, the museum’s vibrant contemporary Artist-in-Residence program, courtyard garden displays, concerts, and innovative education programs continue Isabella Gardner’s legacy.

When Isabella Stewart Gardner died in 1924, her will created an endowment of $1 million and outlined stipulations for the support of the museum, including the charge that her collection be permanently exhibited “for the education and enjoyment of the public forever” according to her aesthetic vision and intent. Gardner stipulated that if her wishes for the museum were not honored, the property and collection were to be sold and the money given to Harvard University.

The museum's current director is Anne Hawley.

Design[link]

The Concert, c.1658-1660, Johannes Vermeer, one of the stolen works.

Hercules by Piero della Francesca, after 1465

Built to evoke a 15th-century Venetian palace, the museum itself provides an atmospheric setting for Isabella Stewart Gardner's inventive creation. Gardner hired Willard T. Sears to design the building near the marshy Back Bay Fens to house her growing art collection.^[4] Inside the museum, three floors of galleries surround a garden courtyard blooming with life in all seasons.

It is a common misconception that the building was brought to America from Venice and reconstructed.^[5] It was built from the ground up in Boston out of new materials, incorporating numerous architectural fragments from European Gothic and Renaissance structures.

Antique elements are worked into the design of the turn-of-the-century building. Special tiles were custom designed for the floors, modern concrete was used for some of the structural elements, and antique capitals sit atop modern columns. The interior garden courtyard is covered by a glass roof, with steel support structure original to the building.

The Gardner Museum is much admired for the intimate atmosphere in which its works of art are displayed and for its flower-filled courtyard. Most of the art pieces are unlabeled, and the generally dim lighting is more akin to a private house than a modern art museum.

Collection[link]

Isabella Stewart Gardner collected and carefully displayed a collection of more than 2,500 objects—paintings, sculpture, furniture, textiles, architectural elements, drawings, silver, ceramics, illuminated manuscripts, rare books, photographs and letters—from ancient Rome, Medieval Europe, Renaissance Italy, Asia, the Islamic world, and 19th-century France and America. Among the artists represented in the galleries are Titian, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Manet, Degas, Whistler and Sargent. The first Matisse to enter an American collection is housed in the Yellow Room.

Well-known artworks in the museum’s collection include Titian’s The Rape of Europa, John Singer Sargent’s El Jaleo and Portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner, Fra Angelico’s Death and Assumption of the Virgin, Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait, Aged 23, Cellini’s Bindo Altoviti, and Piero della Francesca’s Hercules.

The archives hold more than 7,000 letters from 1,000 correspondents, including Henry Adams, T.S. Eliot, Sarah Bernhardt and Oliver Wendell Holmes, in addition to original Dante manuscripts.

Extension and preservation project[link]

Sandro Botticelli, The Story of Lucretia, 1496-1504 - not stolen

In 2002, after a two-year master planning process, the museum’s board of trustees determined that a new wing was necessary to preserve the historic building and to provide improved spaces for programs that continue Isabella Gardner’s legacy. In 2004, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano and the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (Genoa, Italy) were selected to design the new wing. The design for the new wing is conceived as a respectful complement to the historic Museum building in scale, form, and materials.

In March 2009, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts approved the museum’s plans, confirming that the project is consistent with the primary purpose of Isabella Stewart Gardner’s will and is in the public interest. The project also received approval from all relevant city and state preservation and development review agencies.

The new wing will include new spaces for visitor services, concerts, special exhibitions, and education and landscape programs, furthering Isabella Gardner’s legacy in art, music, and horticulture while reducing 21st-century strain on the collection and galleries. The planned completion date is 2012,^[6] and the project will cost $118 million.^[7]

Art theft of 1990[link]

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, 1633, Rembrandt van Rijn, stolen in 1990

In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990 – as the city was preoccupied with Saint Patrick's Day celebrations – a pair of thieves disguised as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and roamed the museum's galleries, stealing thirteen works of art.

They gained entry into the museum by stating that they were responding to an emergency call. The guard on duty broke protocol and allowed them entry through the museum’s security door. Once inside, the thieves asked that the guard come around from behind the desk, claiming that they recognized him and that there was a warrant out for his arrest. The guard walked away from the desk and away from the only alarm button. The guard was told to summon the other guard on duty to the security desk, which he did. The thieves then handcuffed both guards and duct taped their hands, feet and heads and took them into the basement where they were secured to pipes. The two guards were placed 40 yards away from each other in the basement. The next morning, the security guard arriving to relieve the two night guards discovered that the museum had been robbed and notified the police and Director Anne Hawley.^[8]

The stolen artworks include The Concert by Vermeer (one of only 34 known works by Vermeer in the world), three works by Rembrandt including The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (the artist’s only known seascape) and a postage-stamp-sized Self-Portrait, five drawings by Degas, Chez Tortoni by Manet, a landscape painting formerly attributed to Rembrandt, and two objects, an ancient Chinese Ku and a finial in the shape of an eagle from a Napoleonic flag.^[9] Several empty frames hang in the Dutch Room gallery, both in homage to the missing works and as a placeholder for their eventual return.

The stolen artworks have not yet been returned to the museum. However, the investigation remains an open, active case and a top priority of the museum and of the FBI in Boston. Some media estimates have put the value of the stolen artworks at as much as $500 million, making the theft the largest single property theft in recorded history. An offer of a reward from the Gardner Museum of up to $5 million for information leading to the recovery of the stolen artwork remains open.

Speculation[link]

The theft is the subject of a 2005 documentary called Stolen, which in a slightly different version had earlier appeared on Court TV.^[10] It was also the subject of a 2008 episode of American Greed.

Reward[link]

The Gardner Museum continues to actively investigate any and all leads related to the theft. This ongoing investigation is conducted by the museum’s Director of Security in cooperation with the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office. The focus of the investigation today is on the return of the artworks. The museum continues to issue the call to the holders of the works to conserve them in recommended temperatures and humidity levels. The Gardner Museum is offering a reward of $5 million for information leading to the recovery of these works in good condition and, with the FBI and US Attorney, can ensure complete confidentiality.^[8]

In popular culture[link]

The theft was referenced in The Simpsons episode "American History X-cellent," in which one of the stolen works, The Concert by Vermeer, is found in the collection of Mr. Burns. Similarly, in the The Venture Bros. episode "Victor. Echo. November.," a supervillain attempts to sell The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, which he apparently possesses, to a collector for ten million dollars.^{[citation needed]}

Current programs[link]

The Gardner Museum regularly produces scholarly exhibitions—along with lectures, family programs, and symposia—that provide insights into the historic collection. Through the Gardner’s Artist-in-Residence program, artists in many disciplines are invited to live at and draw inspiration from the museum. The museum often hosts exhibitions of contemporary art, performances, and programs by Artists-in-Residence.

The Gardner’s concert series welcomes musicians and emerging artists to perform classical masterpieces, new music, and jazz on Sunday afternoons and select Thursday evenings. The musical program is also available through concert videos, audio recordings, and a free classical music podcast.

Reflecting Isabella Gardner’s passion for horticulture and garden design, the Gardner’s interior courtyard is an astonishing work of art, combining ever-changing horticultural displays with sculpture and architectural elements. The unique interplay between the courtyard and the museum galleries offers visitors a fresh view of the courtyard from almost every room, inviting connections between art and landscape. Programs like the Landscape Visions lecture series and special Ask the Gardener hours further engage visitors with the art of landscape.

Gallery[link]

See also[link]

• List of famous stolen paintings

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum website
• FBI theft page
• Stolen at the Internet Movie Database

Anne Hawley is the Norma Jean Calderwood Director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. She was appointed Director in 1989 after the departure of her predecessor Rollin Van N. Hadley in 1988. With museum attendance in decline, and both the building and its collection in need of repair, under Ms. Hawley's direction the museum entered a period of major restoration. In 1992, she launched the hugely successful Artist-in-Residence program with the aim to revive "the intellectual and artistic life so integral to the vitality of Fenway Court" during Isabella Stewart Gardner's lifetime.^[1][2]

Background[link]

Anne Hawley was raised in West Liberty, Iowa, and educated at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where she earned a BA in English. Hawley went on to complete a master’s degree at George Washington University in Washington, DC. After graduation, Hawley worked as a research associate with the National Urban League and then with the Ford Foundation Study in Leadership in Public Education. She then moved to Massachusetts, where she founded the Cultural Education Collaborative in 1974. In 1977, Hawley became executive director of the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities. In 1988, she won the Lyman Ziegler Award for Outstanding Service to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Hawley attended the Senior Executive Program of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.^[3]

Under Hawley’s leadership, Isabella Gardner’s legacy of patronage and innovation continues to thrive in programs that explore new ideas and thinking across all the arts and serve as the basis for scholarly exhibitions and symposia; school and community partnerships; and a wide array of public and family programs.

Following a comprehensive planning process, Ms. Hawley and the Trustees of the Gardner determined that the future of the museum as a cultural and civic leader, and its work in arts and education, depends on extension. The museum announced in late 2004 the selection of Pritzker Prizewinning architect Renzo Piano to design a new addition to the Gardner’s campus. The new wing is currently under construction and scheduled to open to the public in early 2012.

In addition to her responsibilities at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Ms. Hawley serves as a trustee on the boards of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Save Venice, Inc., and the Fenway Alliance of Boston. Prior to her appointment to the Gardner, Anne Hawley founded the Cultural Education Collaborative, an organization dedicated to stimulating arts public policy and arts education. She served as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities, and was instrumental in the passage of new laws supporting cultural life in Massachusetts, including the Cultural Education Act.

Awards and Honors[link]

Anne Hawley was awarded an Honorary Doctorate (Hon.D.) by Emmanuel College, Boston, at their Commencement on May 12, 2012, where Ms. Hawley was Commencement speaker.^[4]

See also[link]

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Cotter, Holland. "Despite Devastating Losses, the Gardner Museum Is Rebounding." The New York Times. 31 March 1997. Available online. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
• Goldfarb, Hilliard. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Yale University Press, 1995.

External links[link]

• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
• Building on a Legacy: Gardner Museum Extension and Preservation Project