Isabella Stewart Gardner in Venice
primary
Anders Zorn
(Mora, 1860 - 1920, Mora)
subject
Isabella Stewart Gardner
(New York, 1840 - 1924, Boston)
Date1894
Place MadeVenice, Veneto, Italy, Europe
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions91 x 66 cm (35 13/16 x 26 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP17e10
eMuseum ID717826
EmbARK ObjectID10973
TMS Source ID232
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb Commentary
This lively portrait of Isabella Gardner was painted by one of her many artist friends, Anders Zorn. It shows her at the Palazzo Barbaro in Venice, where the Zorns and the Gardners spent time together in the fall of 1894. According to Jack Gardner’s diary, on the evening of October 20 his wife went out on the balcony to see a display of fireworks. Coming back into the room filled with guests, she threw open the glass doors and said, “Come out—all of you. This is too beautiful to miss.” The picture is all about light—the artificial light inside the room and the fireworks outside. Isabella Gardner herself, wearing her trademark long string of pearls, seems to glow. Gardner conveniently installed a portrait of her husband Jack nearby, making it easy to draw comparisons (style, personality, etc.) between the two.
BibliographyNotesArt Exhibition: Mrs. John L. Gardner, 152 Beacon St., Boston. Exh. cat. (Boston, 1899), p. 3, no. 10.
Catalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 6.
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), p. 423.
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 125.
Morris Carter. "Mrs. Gardner & The Treasures of Fenway Court" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), pp. 55-56.
Corinna Lindon Smith. Interesting People. (Norman, Oklahoma, 1962), pp. 156-57.
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 6, no. 31 (31 Mar. 1963), p. 2. (excerpting Corinna Lindon Smith, pp. 156-57)
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), p. 297.
Michelle Facos. Swedish Impressionism’s Boston Champion: Anders Zorn and Isabella Stewart Gardner. Exploring Treasures in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum VI. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1993), pp. 27-30.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, (Boston, 2003), pp. 214-15.
Elizabeth Anne McCauley et al. Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2004), pp. 104-126, fig. 77.
Cynthia Saltzman. Old Masters, New World: America’s Raid on Europe’s Great Pictures (New York: Penguin Books, 2008), p. 55.
Alan Chong. "Isabella Gardner, Bernard Berenson, and Otto Gutekunst" in Jeremy Howard (ed.). Colnaghi: The History (London, 2010), pp. 26-27, fig. 1.
Oliver Tostmann et al. Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2013), pp. 80-82, no. 1a.
Paolo Plebani. "Lotto in Accademia Carrara Not sulla 'fortuna' dell'artista" in Accademia Carrara. Un lotto riscoperto. Exh. cat. (Bergamo: Accademia Carrara, 2016-2017), pp. 57-59, fig. 2.
Per Hedström, ed. John Singer Sargent. Exh. cat. (Stockholm: Nationalmuseum, 2018), pp. 138-139, ill. p. 138.
Elizabeth Reluga, "Inauguration Day 1885," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 19 January 2021, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/inauguration-day-1885
Nathaniel Silver, "Bertha Honoré Palmer, Isabella Stewart Gardner, and Anders Zorn," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2 March 2021, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/bertha-honore-palmer-isabella-stewart-gardner-and-anders-zorn
Nathaniel Silver and Diana Seave Greenwald. Isabella Stewart Gardner: A Life (Boston, 2022), pp. 82-83, fig. 42.
Catalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 6.
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), p. 423.
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 125.
Morris Carter. "Mrs. Gardner & The Treasures of Fenway Court" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), pp. 55-56.
Corinna Lindon Smith. Interesting People. (Norman, Oklahoma, 1962), pp. 156-57.
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 6, no. 31 (31 Mar. 1963), p. 2. (excerpting Corinna Lindon Smith, pp. 156-57)
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), p. 297.
Michelle Facos. Swedish Impressionism’s Boston Champion: Anders Zorn and Isabella Stewart Gardner. Exploring Treasures in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum VI. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1993), pp. 27-30.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, (Boston, 2003), pp. 214-15.
Elizabeth Anne McCauley et al. Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2004), pp. 104-126, fig. 77.
Cynthia Saltzman. Old Masters, New World: America’s Raid on Europe’s Great Pictures (New York: Penguin Books, 2008), p. 55.
Alan Chong. "Isabella Gardner, Bernard Berenson, and Otto Gutekunst" in Jeremy Howard (ed.). Colnaghi: The History (London, 2010), pp. 26-27, fig. 1.
Oliver Tostmann et al. Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2013), pp. 80-82, no. 1a.
Paolo Plebani. "Lotto in Accademia Carrara Not sulla 'fortuna' dell'artista" in Accademia Carrara. Un lotto riscoperto. Exh. cat. (Bergamo: Accademia Carrara, 2016-2017), pp. 57-59, fig. 2.
Per Hedström, ed. John Singer Sargent. Exh. cat. (Stockholm: Nationalmuseum, 2018), pp. 138-139, ill. p. 138.
Elizabeth Reluga, "Inauguration Day 1885," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 19 January 2021, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/inauguration-day-1885
Nathaniel Silver, "Bertha Honoré Palmer, Isabella Stewart Gardner, and Anders Zorn," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2 March 2021, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/bertha-honore-palmer-isabella-stewart-gardner-and-anders-zorn
Nathaniel Silver and Diana Seave Greenwald. Isabella Stewart Gardner: A Life (Boston, 2022), pp. 82-83, fig. 42.
MarksNotesSigned and dated (lower left): Zorn- / Venezia 1894
ProvenanceNotesPainted probably as a gift for Isabella Stewart Gardner at the Palazzo Barbaro, Venice in autumn of 1894.
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