Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Isabella Stewart Gardner first welcomed visitors to her museum on New Year’s Day, 1903. The Gardner Museum is a one-of-a-kind experience. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is like walking into someone else’s fantasy, although it will soon become your own. Isabella Stewart Gardner began her collection with the money she inherited from her father in 1891. She built Fenway Court (now known as the Gardner Museum) with the intention of using it as a showcase for her collection, with her own living quarters on the fourth floor. Contrary to popular belief the entire structure was not brought over from Venice, only various windows and balconies.
Upon first entering the museum visitors are often awe struck at the display of Sargent’s “El Jaleo.” This painting first belonged to her cousin, Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, who loaned it to her while he was traveling. When he returned he found that she had reconstructed Fenway Court to showcase this painting in such a breath-taking manner that he gave her the painting on the spot. Immediately to the right of the painting is the fabulous courtyard whose gardens change with the seasons.
The literal centrepiece of the building is the breathtaking courtyard. A lush conservatory four stories high with a glass ceiling, this ‘Garden of Eden’ is a fabulous counterpoint to the rich panelling and velvet drapes that adorn most of the museum. Although you cannot enter the courtyard, it is lovely to sit on the low stone balustrade that surrounds it, to close your eyes and to inhale the fragrance of whatever flora is being showcased that season. Just beyond the courtyard on the left side of the building is the crown jewel of the Gardner painting collection. El Jaleo by John Singer Sargent is simply mesmerizing. Upon receipt of this work, Mrs Gardner renovated the building specifically for it. She created the Spanish Cloister, a long narrow room with a beautifully tiled floor and Moorish arches which draw the viewer in. You must walk the length of the room to approach the painting, highlighted on the far wall, which gives one the feeling of paying tribute or of making a pilgrimage. The painting itself is dark and sensuous - a lone Spanish dancer, caught up in the moment, clearly entertaining an audience, but seeming to dance for herself alone.
Theft in Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
In March 1990, thieves made the Gardner Museum the victim of the largest art theft to date. Twelve artworks worth more than $100 million were stolen, including a Vermeer (one of only 35 extant paintings of his), two Rembrandts, several Degas canvases, and a Manet. They are all still missing.
One of the men responsible for the theft will only cooperate with the authorities if they agree not to prosecute him for the act. He (supposedly) knows the whereabouts of the paintings and the other culprits and will gladly help the police. Many say let the man off as the experience of the Gardner Museum is greatly diminished without these masterpieces.
