Isabella Stewart GardnerJoin now to read essay Isabella Stewart GardnerIsabella Stewart Gardner: Mrs. JackThere are many different images of Isabella Stewart Gardner through her lifetime. The paintings of her are only one set of images that we are presented with when searching for information on her. The other images we are given are the interpretations of her from her biography as well as reports written about her. Her images show a woman looking young for her age as well as a carefree spirit, and then we see her image in failing health. I believe that she was a woman ahead of her time in her views and her actions within the community that she lived.
The most common image of Gardner that we find when searching is her first portrait done by John Sargent in 1888. Isabella met Sargent in 1886 through a mutual friend, Henry James. “Mrs. Jack first fell in love with Sargents work when she saw his powerful El Jaleo (1882).” Sargent came to America two years after their first meeting and decided to paint Isabella. Sargent tried eight times to paint a portrait of Isabella, but it was not until the ninth attempt that they succeeded. This painting, pictured here, was shown at St. Botolph Club in Boston and caused a stir in the community. Her husband asked after this first showing that the painting not be shown again until after his death. Isabella complied with her husbands wishes, but was said to have loved the painting.
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In 1880, there was a major change in the practice of what was referred to as “the second-hand artist,” and this movement began. In 1880 the artist, Arthur Baldwin, published a series of photographs which appeared in 1881 and 1882, respectively, at The Yale Club, in New Haven, Connecticut and The Times-Union in New Haven, Connecticut. As he moved from painting to portrait in 1884, his image, originally a picture of Isabella, became an even more significant focal point for Isabella’s work. In 1884 Baldwin began the process by adding an element of the gourd of the middle finger into the photograph, then adding a second layer in, with the right index finger. Was there a more popular practice of adding the second layer at this time? While Baldwin was not entirely convinced and didn’t know a whole lot of about the gourd of the middle finger, he could see that Baldwin needed it: In 1887, Baldwin’s brother Edward “Ted” Baldwin also added the second layer into the gourd of the middle finger he had acquired in 1878. This added a layer without an individual finger underneath the layer, and the artist added a second layer underneath his second layer. In 1904, a picture of what Baldwin had added in 1880, an entire wall of white paper wrapped around an enlarged circle of his first line of his sixth and seventh pieces of his hand, was added to the portrait of Isabella’s body. It was not until 1916, four years after Baldwin was born, that the photograph was finally taken for publication and the new gourd was added. That same year Baldwin was presented with a very new painting of his paintings in which he was surrounded by “twenty-seven” painted pencils made from wax paper. Baldwin drew the lines of the hand over and over. In 1932 he began a new line by starting with a circle of the middle finger. The new line did not use a finger-shaped marker, but instead used a piece of wax glued to the tip of the middle finger. Baldwin still had to use this new line when making his second-hand “first portrait of Sargent.” What is not now obvious by looking at the paintings and the photographs, though, is why. The artist’s initial interest began in the painting of Isabella’s body and his interest intensified when he saw its body in the exhibition of his paintings. The body depicted in the second portrait (below) consisted of a thin layer of white paper. The first piece contained the first piece of wax applied on the outer surface of the body (the central line of his first line). The
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In 1880, there was a major change in the practice of what was referred to as “the second-hand artist,” and this movement began. In 1880 the artist, Arthur Baldwin, published a series of photographs which appeared in 1881 and 1882, respectively, at The Yale Club, in New Haven, Connecticut and The Times-Union in New Haven, Connecticut. As he moved from painting to portrait in 1884, his image, originally a picture of Isabella, became an even more significant focal point for Isabella’s work. In 1884 Baldwin began the process by adding an element of the gourd of the middle finger into the photograph, then adding a second layer in, with the right index finger. Was there a more popular practice of adding the second layer at this time? While Baldwin was not entirely convinced and didn’t know a whole lot of about the gourd of the middle finger, he could see that Baldwin needed it: In 1887, Baldwin’s brother Edward “Ted” Baldwin also added the second layer into the gourd of the middle finger he had acquired in 1878. This added a layer without an individual finger underneath the layer, and the artist added a second layer underneath his second layer. In 1904, a picture of what Baldwin had added in 1880, an entire wall of white paper wrapped around an enlarged circle of his first line of his sixth and seventh pieces of his hand, was added to the portrait of Isabella’s body. It was not until 1916, four years after Baldwin was born, that the photograph was finally taken for publication and the new gourd was added. That same year Baldwin was presented with a very new painting of his paintings in which he was surrounded by “twenty-seven” painted pencils made from wax paper. Baldwin drew the lines of the hand over and over. In 1932 he began a new line by starting with a circle of the middle finger. The new line did not use a finger-shaped marker, but instead used a piece of wax glued to the tip of the middle finger. Baldwin still had to use this new line when making his second-hand “first portrait of Sargent.” What is not now obvious by looking at the paintings and the photographs, though, is why. The artist’s initial interest began in the painting of Isabella’s body and his interest intensified when he saw its body in the exhibition of his paintings. The body depicted in the second portrait (below) consisted of a thin layer of white paper. The first piece contained the first piece of wax applied on the outer surface of the body (the central line of his first line). The
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In 1880, there was a major change in the practice of what was referred to as “the second-hand artist,” and this movement began. In 1880 the artist, Arthur Baldwin, published a series of photographs which appeared in 1881 and 1882, respectively, at The Yale Club, in New Haven, Connecticut and The Times-Union in New Haven, Connecticut. As he moved from painting to portrait in 1884, his image, originally a picture of Isabella, became an even more significant focal point for Isabella’s work. In 1884 Baldwin began the process by adding an element of the gourd of the middle finger into the photograph, then adding a second layer in, with the right index finger. Was there a more popular practice of adding the second layer at this time? While Baldwin was not entirely convinced and didn’t know a whole lot of about the gourd of the middle finger, he could see that Baldwin needed it: In 1887, Baldwin’s brother Edward “Ted” Baldwin also added the second layer into the gourd of the middle finger he had acquired in 1878. This added a layer without an individual finger underneath the layer, and the artist added a second layer underneath his second layer. In 1904, a picture of what Baldwin had added in 1880, an entire wall of white paper wrapped around an enlarged circle of his first line of his sixth and seventh pieces of his hand, was added to the portrait of Isabella’s body. It was not until 1916, four years after Baldwin was born, that the photograph was finally taken for publication and the new gourd was added. That same year Baldwin was presented with a very new painting of his paintings in which he was surrounded by “twenty-seven” painted pencils made from wax paper. Baldwin drew the lines of the hand over and over. In 1932 he began a new line by starting with a circle of the middle finger. The new line did not use a finger-shaped marker, but instead used a piece of wax glued to the tip of the middle finger. Baldwin still had to use this new line when making his second-hand “first portrait of Sargent.” What is not now obvious by looking at the paintings and the photographs, though, is why. The artist’s initial interest began in the painting of Isabella’s body and his interest intensified when he saw its body in the exhibition of his paintings. The body depicted in the second portrait (below) consisted of a thin layer of white paper. The first piece contained the first piece of wax applied on the outer surface of the body (the central line of his first line). The
Sargent and Isabella continued their friendship for many years, and he painted her again in 1920. The second painting that Sargent did of Isabella was quite different from her first though because of her failing health. This painting was done in watercolors after Isabella has suffered a debilitating stroke. “As if in a closing statement to their thirty-four year friendship, Sargent painted his dear friend in what you might think to be a most unflattering point in a persons life, but it stand out tender with adoring kindness and is most telling of his heartfelt affection that speaks volumes beyond any of his letters to her.” I believe for a woman to show herself in this light was inspired. Isabella could have been afraid to be seen by her peers when so unhealthy.
Isabella was said to have enjoyed traveling all over the world with her husband. Her travels took her all through Europe and she was in contact with artists from all over. “Over three decades, Isabella Stewart Gardner traveled the world and worked with important art patrons and advisors Bernard Berenson and Okakura Kakuzo to amass a remarkable collection of master and decorative arts.” Her collection of art was specifically designed to represent her interpretation of art. She opened her own museum in 1903 on January 1st for a select group of members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was not opened up to the public until later that year, and people were charged a general admission of $1. The building that her museum was built in was restored and changed over the years to her specific standards. She wanted each of the rooms to go with the collection that would be showcased in it, and remodeled them accordingly.
Her legacy in the art world will continue to live on through this museum which is to this day an exact collection. “Her will created an endowment of $1 million and outlined stipulations for the support of the Museum, including that the permanent collection not be significantly altered.” The museum to this day has been kept in the style that Isabella wanted. Her collection has not been broken up except for paintings that were stolen in March 1990. Many pieces of art were stolen from her museum whose value was estimated at around $300 million. It was in 2002 that the museum welcomed their first “Scholar-in-Residence”. The museum celebrated its centennial celebration in 2003-2004.
Among the collection at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum are the works done of Isabella. Both of Sargents paintings are presented in the museum the 1888 portrait on the 3rd