Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 25 Evans Way, Boston, MA (2021)

05/01/2021

It’s #DerbyDay! 🏇 Horses have long been a source of inspiration for artists, and John Singer Sargent painted these working horses during a visit to the Middle East in 1905.

Image: John Singer Sargent, Bus Horses in Jerusalem (detail), 1905. Watercolor on paper.

04/30/2021

April showers bring May flowers! 🌷 We’re looking forward to days with longer sunshine and vibrant blooms, like the scene in this painting by John Appleton Brown.

Image: John Appleton Brown, Garden of Poppies, about 1891. Pastel on buff paper.

04/30/2021

FYI: Café G will be closed today (April 30) in preparation for an event, and will resume normal hours of operation tomorrow, May 1. We apologize for any inconvenience. We look forward to your visit on Saturday!

04/29/2021

This #InternationalDanceDay, dance along with our 2019 Choreographers-in-Residence, All Ready! Watch an incredible performance from fall 2019, when All Ready staged an original work inspired by John Singer Sargent’s El Jaleo and the Flamenco records that the artist used to exchange with Isabella: https://bit.ly/3xAbUFS

📸: Matt Teuten

04/29/2021

Meditations on the Power of Community (Trailer)

Premiering May 6: Meditations on the Power of Community!

In response to the Shen Wei: Painting in Motion exhibition, Pao Arts Center 2021 Artist in Residence Lenora Lee Dance presents a newly commissioned work, illuminating stories of the Chinatown community against the backdrop of Wei’s large-scale, immersive paintings. Interviews and contemporary dance choreographed by Lee in collaboration with Lenora Lee Dance and Boston-based dancers, provide a meditation on the experiences of Boston’s Chinatown community. Filmed by local filmmaker Weiying Olivia Huang.

Join us on May 11 for a film screening and panel discussion with some of the team that brought this project to life! Join the conversation→ https://bit.ly/3g6maPV

04/28/2021

Not sure what to give the mother in your life this year? Give the gift that shows your appreciation all year long with a membership to the Gardner! Save $10 on a Dual/Household level membership now through Mother’s Day. Use code GIFT10. → https://bit.ly/3dZCdNW

04/28/2021

The Veronese Room is all about texture! The gallery is lined with over 500 individual panels of leather wall hangings—a particularly opulent decoration. Isabella assembled this collection from different sources, in different shapes and sizes to create a richly patterned environment. If you look closely, you can spot different motifs: some decorative, some religious in their imagery.

04/28/2021

This week on the blog, learn how this painting found in the Raphael Room from the Italian Renaissance influenced contemporary Chinese artist Shen Wei and his work on film. Read on: https://bit.ly/2PxM2cA

Image: Piermatteo d'Amelia (Italian, about 1450–1508), The Annunciation, about 1487. Tempera on panel.

04/27/2021

If you’ve visited the Museum lately, you may have noticed some activity in the Titian Room! Right now, our conservation team is hard at work transforming the room into what it looked like during Isabella’s time - and conserving some precious objects during the process. Over the course of the project, we will be updating you with a behind-the-scenes look into how our team manages this massive undertaking. #TransformationTuesday

Learn more about the project here → https://www.gardnermuseum.org/about/titian-room-restoration

04/26/2021

Calling all Museum Members! Make the most of your Member perks and enjoy an extra 10% off your Gift at the Gardner purchase from April 27 through May 5. Hint: Mother's Day is just around the corner!

Not a member? Check out the membership possibilities here: https://bit.ly/2HXJMSm

04/25/2021

In 1883, Marian “Clover” Adams, became one of the earliest portrait photographers. The wife of historian Henry Adams, Clover often photographed their social circle to reveal her extraordinary eye for intimate portraits, including this tintype of Helen Choate Bell.

Image: Marian Adams (1843 - 1885), Helen Choate Bell, 1883. Tintype.

04/24/2021

When the Museum opened in 1903, William Amory Gardner gifted his aunt Isabella this replica figurine of an Ancient Greek statuette. Terracotta statues of women were abundant in Greece during the last quarter of the 4th century B.C. These pieces are called Tanagra figurines because a large amount of them were found in the Greek town of Tanagra. The figures were made with a two-part mold, making the sculptures easy to mass-produce and replicate. #InternationalSculptureDay

Image: Imitator of Greek, Myrina, Seated Woman, 19th century (copy of a Tanagra figure of the late 3rd century-1st century BC). Polychromed terracotta. Less

04/24/2021

Gift at the Gardner is pleased to announce its book of the month selection for April: The Secret Language of Flowers: Notes on the Hidden Meanings of Flowers in Art by Artist-in-Residence Jean-Michel Othoniel.

During his Museum residency, Othoniel examined the Museum and photographed the flowers in the tapestries, ironwork, architecture, furnishings and paintings, such as the delicate rose of van Dyck's “Portrait of a Woman”, the majestic lily of Piermatteo d'Amelia's “Annunciation”, and the trailing blooms of Arthur Pope’s “Nasturtiums at Fenway Court.”

This gift-worthy volume presents Othoniel’s art-historical catalog of the Museum’s flowers, from Acanthus to Zea mays. Pick up your copy today: https://bit.ly/3cMK5Sx

04/23/2021

Happy #WorldBookDay! Isabella had a vast collection of books, over 2000, that she placed in the Museum. One of the earliest books she collected was this rare copy of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy from 1487. In 1886, Isabella joined the Dante Society, and subsequently collected a number of early print editions (like the one seen here) The volume is vibrantly illustrated with woodcuts inspired by Baccio Baldini’s engravings after Botticelli. What are you reading? 📚

Image: Dante Alighieri (1265 - 1321), Divine Comedy (details), 1487. Printed ink on paper

04/23/2021

NOW AVAILABLE: We're heading into the studio with Stephen Hamilton to learn about his art practices and what sparks his creativity. Watch the latest In the Studio now: https://bit.ly/2K4rVQb

🎥: Daymian Mejia

04/22/2021

This #EarthDay, get back in touch with nature! What are you doing today to show your care for our beautiful Earth? 🌎

Image: Andreas Martin Anderson, Surge of the Sea, about 1900. Oil on canvas

04/21/2021

Spot of tea, anyone? This porcelain cup and saucer was crafted by famed British manufacturer Minton Ceramics in 1884, and is the perfect tea set for #NationalTeaDay! We dove into the conservation of this set in a blog post from spring 2020, check it out→ https://bit.ly/3tFIbsM

Objects: Minton Ceramics Manufactory, Cup And Saucer: Isabella, 1884, Porcelain.

04/20/2021

If you’ve ever painted your home, or even a room, you know how challenging it can be to achieve the color, finish, and texture that you want. Isabella was just as picky about her paint colors in the early 1900s as we are today.

This week on the blog, we are learning all about the beloved Bardini Blue: https://bit.ly/3dlaiaW

04/20/2021

On Friday, April 23, we meet up with mixed-media artist and arts-educator Stephen Hamilton! As a Black American trained in traditional West African art forms, Stephen treats the acts of weaving, dyeing, and woodcarving as ritualized acts of reclamation and seeks to bridge dialogue between contemporary Black cultures and the ancient African world through an asset-based lens.

In the Studio is a video series that takes you into the studios and workspaces of a few artists who call Boston home. Sign up to receive In the Studio right to your inbox: https://bit.ly/2GwPeQP

04/19/2021

The Museum is closed today, April 19, in honor of #PatriotsDay. Since we are regularly closed on Tuesdays, join us again at the Museum on Wednesday, April 21!

Did you know the Museum's collection includes what is likely the second draft of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, Paul Revere's Ride? Get a closer look here: https://bit.ly/2DyEZXS

04/18/2021

On April 22, explore the individual and collective impact of dance in The Larger Conversation: The Synergy of Dance in Our Lives.

Pamela Tatge, Executive and Artistic Director of Jacob's Pillow, Lilly Balch, dancer with Shen Wei Arts, and Jodee Nimerichter, Executive Director of American Dance Festival dive into some of the movement at the very heart of Shen Wei: Painting in Motion. Join the conversation and register for free today: https://bit.ly/2ZiKKmW

📸: Julia Featheringill

04/17/2021

This small panel was originally created as part of a larger altarpiece—other sections of the work are found in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the National Gallery. When Bernard Berenson brought this painting to Isabella’s attention in 1890, she immediately bought it! Two years prior, in 1898, Isabella had brought the first Raphael painting to the United States, and ultimately named one of her galleries after the much-admired Italian artist.

Image: Raphael, Lamentation Over the Dead Christ, about 1503-1505. Oil on poplar panel.

04/16/2021

It's time for the next episode in our series of short films, Witness: Spirituals and the Classical Music Tradition, exploring the ways some Black American composers found inspiration in the rich tradition of spirituals.

From their founding in 1871, the Fisk Jubilee Singers championed the performance and publication of spirituals, giving this music to audiences across the globe. In this episode, we hear one of their earliest recordings, a rendition of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot in four-part harmony, as well as Adolphus Hailstork’s modernist take on the same music.

Watch now→ https://bit.ly/2OoSfqN