1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die by Patricia Schultz
Book: 1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die by Patricia Schultz
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Authors: Patricia Schultz
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galleries that spread out from here hold an idiosyncratic assortment of European, Asian, and American art assembled to suit the museum’s unconventional founder and namesake.
Designed in the style of a 15th-century Venetian palazzo, this building was the home of Isabella Gardner and was opened as a museum while she still lived on the fourth floor. The permanent galleries remain exactly as she left them at her death, when she had already arranged for the collection to be held in public trust for the “education and enjoyment of the public forever.” A separate gallery shows changing exhibitions of contemporary works, often created by participants in the prestigious artists-in-residence program. Renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano has been selected to design an addition that will triple the special exhibition space as part of an expansion project expected to extend into the 2010s.
In the 1890s, Gardner called on her friend Bernard Berenson, a prominent art historian, to help her assemble her collection. The museum opened to the public in 1903 with more than 2,500 objects, including works by Giotto, Raphael, Rembrandt, and Botticelli. The Gardner is home to the only Pierro della Francesca fresco outside Italy and to Titian’s
Europa,
one of the most important Italianpaintings in the U.S. Another cherished holding is a John Singer Sargent portrait of Gardner, who was a uniquely colorful personality in the bland world of Boston high society. Legend has it that she once walked a lion on a leash down Tremont Street, and after the 1912 World Series she appeared at Symphony Hall wearing a headband that read “Oh You Red Sox.”
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is the only private art collection in which the building, collection, and installations were created by one individual.
Today, almost a century later, the acoustically perfect Symphony Hall is home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra with a break built in for the Boston Pops’ holiday concerts. The Pops season ends with a series of free performances on the Esplanade, including the nationally televised Fourth of July extravaganza (see p. 39).
W HERE: 280 The Fenway. Tel 617-566-1401; www.gardnermuseum.org.
When:
closed Mon. B OSTON S YMPHONY O RCHESTRA and B OSTON P OPS: Tel 888-266-1200 or 617-266-1200 (tickets), 617-266-1492 (info); www.bso.org.
Cost:
BSO tickets from $28; Pops tickets from $16.
When:
BSO Oct–Apr; Pops May–early July. B EST TIMES: Apr, when the museum’s balconies drip with 20-foot nasturtium vines; Dec, when red and white poinsettias and holly bushes adorn the courtyard. The Tapestry Room hosts the city’s best chamber music concert series, Sept–June.
Eight Millennia of Art and Artifacts
M USEUM OF F INE A RTS
Boston, Massachusetts
Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts is one of the nation’s best, with collections that include some of the most beloved and recognizable works of art in the Western world. The galleries capture the history of human creativity , beginning with objects produced around 6000 B.C. and extending to the present day. Along the way they touch on works in various media from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome; Renaissance masterworks; American furnishings and decorative silver; and the Impressionists, including one of the largest collections of Monets (more than 40) outside France. Images such as Degas dancers and Gilbert Stuart portraits feel familiar; Native American baskets and works of Chinese calligraphy lead visitors to think about art from unfamiliar perspectives.
The museum’s best-known holdings include iconic American works such as John Singleton Copley’s
Watson and the Shark,
Gilbert Stuart’s
George Washington
and
Martha Washington,
and Childe Hassam’s
Boston Common at Twilight,
and European masterpieces such as Renoir’s
Dance at Bougival
and Gauguin’s
Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
The museum’s eight curatorial areas range from textiles and fashion arts to art of Asia,
Designed in the style of a 15th-century Venetian palazzo, this building was the home of Isabella Gardner and was opened as a museum while she still lived on the fourth floor. The permanent galleries remain exactly as she left them at her death, when she had already arranged for the collection to be held in public trust for the “education and enjoyment of the public forever.” A separate gallery shows changing exhibitions of contemporary works, often created by participants in the prestigious artists-in-residence program. Renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano has been selected to design an addition that will triple the special exhibition space as part of an expansion project expected to extend into the 2010s.
In the 1890s, Gardner called on her friend Bernard Berenson, a prominent art historian, to help her assemble her collection. The museum opened to the public in 1903 with more than 2,500 objects, including works by Giotto, Raphael, Rembrandt, and Botticelli. The Gardner is home to the only Pierro della Francesca fresco outside Italy and to Titian’s
Europa,
one of the most important Italianpaintings in the U.S. Another cherished holding is a John Singer Sargent portrait of Gardner, who was a uniquely colorful personality in the bland world of Boston high society. Legend has it that she once walked a lion on a leash down Tremont Street, and after the 1912 World Series she appeared at Symphony Hall wearing a headband that read “Oh You Red Sox.”
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is the only private art collection in which the building, collection, and installations were created by one individual.
Today, almost a century later, the acoustically perfect Symphony Hall is home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra with a break built in for the Boston Pops’ holiday concerts. The Pops season ends with a series of free performances on the Esplanade, including the nationally televised Fourth of July extravaganza (see p. 39).
W HERE: 280 The Fenway. Tel 617-566-1401; www.gardnermuseum.org.
When:
closed Mon. B OSTON S YMPHONY O RCHESTRA and B OSTON P OPS: Tel 888-266-1200 or 617-266-1200 (tickets), 617-266-1492 (info); www.bso.org.
Cost:
BSO tickets from $28; Pops tickets from $16.
When:
BSO Oct–Apr; Pops May–early July. B EST TIMES: Apr, when the museum’s balconies drip with 20-foot nasturtium vines; Dec, when red and white poinsettias and holly bushes adorn the courtyard. The Tapestry Room hosts the city’s best chamber music concert series, Sept–June.
Eight Millennia of Art and Artifacts
M USEUM OF F INE A RTS
Boston, Massachusetts
Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts is one of the nation’s best, with collections that include some of the most beloved and recognizable works of art in the Western world. The galleries capture the history of human creativity , beginning with objects produced around 6000 B.C. and extending to the present day. Along the way they touch on works in various media from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome; Renaissance masterworks; American furnishings and decorative silver; and the Impressionists, including one of the largest collections of Monets (more than 40) outside France. Images such as Degas dancers and Gilbert Stuart portraits feel familiar; Native American baskets and works of Chinese calligraphy lead visitors to think about art from unfamiliar perspectives.
The museum’s best-known holdings include iconic American works such as John Singleton Copley’s
Watson and the Shark,
Gilbert Stuart’s
George Washington
and
Martha Washington,
and Childe Hassam’s
Boston Common at Twilight,
and European masterpieces such as Renoir’s
Dance at Bougival
and Gauguin’s
Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
The museum’s eight curatorial areas range from textiles and fashion arts to art of Asia,
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