Gardner Musuem: A Touch of Venice on the Fenway
by Naseem Khuri, Culture/Photo Editor on February 24, 2003 in Culture
Tucked away at the base of the Fens is Boston’s own 16th century Venetian palazzo. Commissioned in the late 1890s and opened to the public in 1903, this museum houses the personal collection of the eccentric and infamous society lady of Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner.
She designed the building to replicate the ambience of the palaces of Italy-and with its marble-pink walls, tile floors, and central courtyard filled with flowers and lemon trees, the Museum offers a mini-Spring Break in Venice year-round.
To further emulate the European royal traditions, the collection is presented as it would in a private home-with an eye for the aesthetic. Unlike a traditional museum, the paintings, furniture, tapestries, and ceramics are arranged, not by historical period or movement, but by color or theme.
Furthermore, there are no titles or artist labels; you must just appreciate these works for what they are, not who they are by (though if you are careful, you will notice significant works by Titian, Whistler, Manet, Degas, and others). The feeling is like walking through someone’s home-intimate, impressive, and perhaps a bit cluttered-and unlike a sterile or austere art museum, the Gardner doesn’t ask you to work too hard to enjoy it.
Gardner spent several years organizing more than 2,500 objects to her taste. In her will, she stipulated that the museum must display the works exactly as she left them, or everything will go to auction.
The museum is therefore always showing its entire permanent collection. The only change has been in 1990, when a pair of thieves dressed as policemen stole 13 works, including portraits by Vermeer, Rembrandt, and 5 Degas drawings. The empty frames that housed these pieces stand in their original locations, as required by Gardner’s estate.
Sunday afternoons at 1:30 offer classical chamber music in the grand music room; for a younger, hipper crowd try the jazz concerts on the first Saturday of each month. These concerts require an additional ticket. Also of note are the seasonal horticultural designs in the courtyard, which are particularly spectacular in April to celebrate Gardner’s birthday, April 16.
Written by Naseem Khuri, Culture/Photo Editor · Filed Under Culture
Naseem Khuri (MPP2) is Culture and Photo Editor of the Citizen. Prior to his time at the Kennedy School, Khuri worked as an Associate at CMPartners, a consulting firm specializing in negotiation and conflict management training and coaching. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 2001 with degrees in biochemistry and music, and actually still plays music (myspace.com/kingsleyflood). He enjoys late night Guitar Hero, Diet Coke with Lime, long walks on the beach and shamelessly advertising his myspace music page.
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