Mrs. Gardner in White
primary
John Singer Sargent
(Florence, 1856 - 1925, London)
subject
Isabella Stewart Gardner
(New York, 1840 - 1924, Boston)
Date1922
Place MadeUnited States, North America
MediumWatercolor on paper
Dimensions43 x 32 cm (16 15/16 x 12 5/8 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP11e13
eMuseum ID723578
EmbARK ObjectID10883
TMS Source ID149
Last Updated9/13/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryJohn Singer Sargent painted this portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner shortly after she had suffered a debilitating stroke, and he was working on the mural decoration for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She described this work as an informal sketch, and called it “a water-colour, not meant, I hope, to look like me.” The calmness of her pose and shroud-like swath of white fabric express an otherworldliness that bears little resemblance to her previous ebullient character. This is the last portrait of Isabella before her death in 1924.
BibliographyNotesGilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 74.
Morris Carter. "Mrs. Gardner & The Treasures of Fenway Court" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 55.
Kristin A. Mortimer. "Report of the Acting Director." Fenway Court (1988), p. 68, ill. 62.
Corinna Lindon Smith. Interesting People (Norman, Oklahoma, 1962), pp. 156-157.
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 6, no. 31 (31 Mar. 1963), p. 2. (excerpting Corinna Lindon Smith, pp. 156-57)
Rollin Hadley. “Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 8, no. 15 (13 Dec. 1964), p. 2.
A. Hyatt Mayor. "Mrs. Gardner Comes to Call." Fenway Court (1972), p. 40, ill. 41.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 231-32.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), pp. 224-25.
Fausto Calderai and Alan Chong. Furnishing a Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection of Italian Furniture (Boston, 2011), pp. 72-73, fig. B.
Christine M. E. Guth. "Multisensorial Asia" in Alan Chong and Noriko Murai (eds.). Inventing Asia: American Perspectives Around 1900. Fenway Court, vol. 33 (Boston, 2014), pp. 92-93, fig. 8.
Nathaniel Silver "Isabella Stewart Gardner, Simone Martini, and Gold-Ground Paintings in America" in Nathaniel Silver (ed.). Simone Martini in Orvieto. Exh. cat. (Boston, MA: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2022) p. 35, fig. 15.
Elizabeth Reluga, “Isabella’s Apartment on the Fourth Floor,” Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 20 August 2024, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/isabellas-apartment
Morris Carter. "Mrs. Gardner & The Treasures of Fenway Court" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 55.
Kristin A. Mortimer. "Report of the Acting Director." Fenway Court (1988), p. 68, ill. 62.
Corinna Lindon Smith. Interesting People (Norman, Oklahoma, 1962), pp. 156-157.
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 6, no. 31 (31 Mar. 1963), p. 2. (excerpting Corinna Lindon Smith, pp. 156-57)
Rollin Hadley. “Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 8, no. 15 (13 Dec. 1964), p. 2.
A. Hyatt Mayor. "Mrs. Gardner Comes to Call." Fenway Court (1972), p. 40, ill. 41.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 231-32.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), pp. 224-25.
Fausto Calderai and Alan Chong. Furnishing a Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection of Italian Furniture (Boston, 2011), pp. 72-73, fig. B.
Christine M. E. Guth. "Multisensorial Asia" in Alan Chong and Noriko Murai (eds.). Inventing Asia: American Perspectives Around 1900. Fenway Court, vol. 33 (Boston, 2014), pp. 92-93, fig. 8.
Nathaniel Silver "Isabella Stewart Gardner, Simone Martini, and Gold-Ground Paintings in America" in Nathaniel Silver (ed.). Simone Martini in Orvieto. Exh. cat. (Boston, MA: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2022) p. 35, fig. 15.
Elizabeth Reluga, “Isabella’s Apartment on the Fourth Floor,” Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 20 August 2024, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/isabellas-apartment
MarksNotesInscribed and signed in ink (upper right): To my friend Mrs Gardner / John S. Sargent
ProvenanceNotesGift from John Singer Sargent to Isabella Stewart Gardner on 26 September 1922.
