The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: A Guide

by Christina M. Nielsen, Casey Riley, Nathaniel Silver

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and its magnificent collection are enlivened through fresh insights and new photography in this updated guide

This updated guide to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum charts new pathways through the beloved institution’s superb collection. Gardner, a trail-blazing American who was among the most prominent patrons of her day, built a Venetian-inspired palazzo in Boston to share her exquisite and thought-provoking art objects from diverse cultures and eras. She hosted luminaries in the worlds of music, dance, and literature, and supported such famed artists as Henry James and John Singer Sargent. The authors look at masterpieces by Botticelli, Rembrandt, Titian, and others, as well as hidden treasures, including decorative arts, correspondence, and photographs. Rather than positioning the museum simply as a historical gem, they present it as a site for forging connections between past and present and reinforcing the founder’s legacy of sustaining contemporary art, music, and education. Featuring all-new photography, the book captures the uniqueness of this museum, helping us consider anew what the museum meant in Gardner’s time and what it means in ours.

Published in association with the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Travel, Biography, History

216 pages, Paperback

Published December 5, 2017

Reviews

[John Isles · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, contains many works of art from different places and periods, variously but not systematically assembled in Gardner's former home, whose interior is intended to resemble that of a Venetian palazzo. None of the items displayed is labelled: for information about them the visitor needs to listen to an audioguide, check descriptions on the Museum's website via links provided in each room, or perhaps refer to this guidebook, though it's much too long to read during a visit. I wish the collection had been arranged systematically with written descriptions set by each piece, but such was not Gardner's wish when she bequeathed her collection for the public's enjoyment. The book tells the story of the Museum and describes the contents of each room, with photographs of some of the items haphazardly included and not linked to the text. The bookshop did not offer a catalogue with descriptions of each item beside a photograph, which I'd have preferred, but evidently that's not the way this museum does things.

[Rosa King · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: A Guide, is more than just a museum guide. It offers an objective yet insightful overview of the collection and its formidable founder. I enjoyed learning about Mrs. Gardner’s motives and intentions for creating one of the most widely representative, yet eclectic public collections in the United States. Likewise, her biography is rich, respectfully articulated, and never dull. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is among my favorite collections that guarantees a new experience with every visit. The Guide, with its many beautiful photographs, offers both the reader who has never been and the museum visitor a cohesive narrative regarding the collection in its entirety. It brings perspective to a seemingly disparate assemblage of art, objects, and furnishings and puts into focus a well-curated collection that reflects the tastes and goals of its admirable founder.

[ladywallingford · Rating 4 out of 5]

If any of you find yourselves in Boston, I cannot recommend the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum enough! This book is one that I picked up about the person Isabella Stewart Gardner, the collection at the museum, and also the types of things that the museums offers in order to preserve the legacy that Gardner left to the city of Boston after her death. The photographs of the house and artwork are beautiful but do not do justice to the subjects meant to be portrayed here. Also of interest about the house, Gardner stated in her will that the items that she acquired for her museum must be left as she placed them in perpetuity. Outside of conservation efforts and the infamous theft that took place in the 1990s, her collection within the museum is as she placed it, which makes this museum rather unique and worth a trip to Boston.

[Paulette · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing book that is a tour guide for an equally amazing art museum. Discover the life of Isabella Stewart Gardner who amassed an eclectic art collection beginning in the 1890s and built a "Venetian-inspired palazzo in Boston to house her exquisite and thought-provoking arrangment of art objects from diverse cultures and periods of history to share with the world."I enjoyed her fascinating story and the photography of the various rooms and art. Recommended!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took me a long time to finish! Mainly because it was lost for 4 months. Even though it’s not a long book, it does contain a ton of information about the pieces. Also, I liked to research some of the artists and pieces mentioned. This is probably my favorite museum. I think because of Gardner’s curation. I wish I could visit more frequently, but this book helps me feel like I’m there.

[kvanwoert · Rating 4 out of 5]

sometimes you need a good nonfiction read :)

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this before I visited the museum and re read after visiting. An excellent guide and Isabella was a very interesting woman.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough. I adore this museum. I can’t wait to go back.