Gardner Guards Flame

Isabella Stewart Gardner: The Woman and Myth

at the Isabella Stewart GardnerMuseum through August 14, 1994

Most people who visit the Gardner know the basic legend about the woman behind the Museum--that she was an eccentric Boston socialite who stipulated in her will that the arrangement of the pieces could not be changed after her death. True--but did you also know that she was friends with people such as John Singer Sargent, Sarah Bernhardt and Henry James? Or that if the conditions her will were violated, the museum was to go to Harvard College, and sold to provide an increase in faculty salaries and student scholarships?

The exhibit The Woman and Myth highlights the life of "Mrs. Jack," as she was known around Boston. The show addresses both the well-known facts about the eccentric collector's public career, but also explores lesser-known (but perhaps more important) aspects of her life, including her family, her travels, and her unparalleled enthusiasm for art which prompted her to support aspiring artists.

The show occupies the Gardner's relatively new temporary exhibition space. (This area doesn't fall under the provision of the will that no one "change the general display or arrangement of any articles on the 1st and 2nd or 3rd floors.") The small scale of the room supports the intimate nature of the exhibit. Personal objects, travel journals, portraits, letters, works by her favorite artists, photographs and newspaper clipping combine to create a vibrant picture of Gardner. Some pieces, like the will and an architectural drawing of the building, explain the Museum itself--a building designed to house the more than, 2,500 art objects spanning 3,000 years, all collected within 25 years. Other objects, especially the portraits by John Singer Sargent and Anders Zorn, highlights the woman herself. Newspaper clippings from Boston papers around the turn of the century attest to society's fascination with Mrs. Jack; one article remarks on her "coiffure adornment"--a pair of immense diamonds attached to wire antenae, which she was spotted wearing at a social engagement.

Light-hearted text painted at the top of the gallery walls tells whether there's any truth to legends about Gardner: "True: the attracted so much attention that the seats in the Boston Music hall without a view of her were sold at a reduced price," or "Maybe: she climbed out a convent school window in Paris to elope with Jack Gardner," or "False: she strolled pet lions down Beacon Street." But don't let such intriguing facts about the lady let you lose sight of Gardner's most important role personally and historically: that of a patron and collector of art.

Gardner focused on amassing art objects that would make up a well-rounded collection--hence her travels to places such as Egypt and Malaysia. But she also has a strong interest in furthering the careers of struggling artists, many of whom she befriended and supported financially, either collecting works for herself or donating them to other museum. The artists indicated their gratitude by their fascination with her as a portrait subject and in the things they wrote to and about her. James McNeil Whistler described her in am inscription on a piece he gave her as a person "whose appreciation of the work of art is only equaled by her understanding of the artist." Although buying the work of up-and-coming artists probably seemed risky, Gardner had the finances and the gumption to do it. Her insight usually proved right--in the show hangs a Matisse figure drawing, the first work by the artist to enter any American collection.

The Woman and the Myth is a well-organized show, crammed with facts and anecdotes about Gardner's life that a visitor couldn't learn just from seeing the collection. The exhibit is small enough that the diversity of the objects isn't overwhelming, but provides a cohesive picture of Gardner's life. Although the museum itself is a testimony to Isabella Stewart Gardner's taste and insight, this special exhibit complements the collection by giving us a glimpse into the personal life of Mrs. Gardner.