The Omnibus
painter
Anders Zorn
(Mora, 1860 - 1920, Mora)
Date1892
Place MadeSweden, Europe
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions126 x 88 cm (49 5/8 x 34 5/8 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP3e1
eMuseum ID717861
EmbARK ObjectID10974
TMS Source ID233
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryWhy was Mrs. Gardner so drawn to this work when she saw it in Chicago? It is a thoroughly modern painting: the subject is contemporary urban life — people sitting on a Paris trolley — and the style is Impressionist, although the Impressionists never really painted the dreary aspects of public transportation. Zorn depicts the isolation and sadness that comes with industrial progress, even as people are more crowded together.
It has been reported that Mrs. Gardner rode the streetcars of Boston, and thus could have identified with the well-dressed women riders. And, if a bit of speculation is allowed, the woman in the foreground, apprehensive yet eager, leaning and looking forward, mirrors the aspect of Mrs. Gardner at this moment in her life – about to embark on a serious career of collecting.
Source: Richard Lingner, "Omnibus," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 213.
It has been reported that Mrs. Gardner rode the streetcars of Boston, and thus could have identified with the well-dressed women riders. And, if a bit of speculation is allowed, the woman in the foreground, apprehensive yet eager, leaning and looking forward, mirrors the aspect of Mrs. Gardner at this moment in her life – about to embark on a serious career of collecting.
Source: Richard Lingner, "Omnibus," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 213.
BibliographyNotesCatalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 6.
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), pp. 422-23.
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 37.
Morris Carter. "Mrs. Gardner & The Treasures of Fenway Court" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 55-56.
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. 21-25.
Oliver Tostmann et al. Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2013), pp. 92-98, no. 5b.
Elizabeth Reluga, "From Omnibuses to Streetcars: Isabella and the 'T'," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 8 September 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/from-omnibuses-streetcars-isabella-t
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. 80-81, fig. 41.
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), pp. 422-23.
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 37.
Morris Carter. "Mrs. Gardner & The Treasures of Fenway Court" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 55-56.
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. 21-25.
Oliver Tostmann et al. Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2013), pp. 92-98, no. 5b.
Elizabeth Reluga, "From Omnibuses to Streetcars: Isabella and the 'T'," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 8 September 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/from-omnibuses-streetcars-isabella-t
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. 80-81, fig. 41.
MarksNotesSigned and dated (lower right): Zorn–Paris 1892
Inscribed on label affixed to frame (verso): World's Columbian Exposition / At Chicago, ILL U.S.A./ Galleries of Fine Art / Work of Art: Omnibus / Artist's name: Anders Zorn / Address: 71 ...[indecipherable] / Owner Name: / Address:
Inscribed on label affixed to frame (verso): World's Columbian Exposition / At Chicago, ILL U.S.A./ Galleries of Fine Art / Work of Art: Omnibus / Artist's name: Anders Zorn / Address: 71 ...[indecipherable] / Owner Name: / Address:
Inscribed on label affixed to frame (verso): .... F. Framers / E.. / 76 Rue Blanche, Paris / Expositions
Inscribed on label affixed to frame (verso): Museum of Fine Arts / Artist Anders Zorn / Subject Omnibus ... / Owner Mrs.... / Date of ....
Stamped in red on label affixed to frame (verso) U. S. Customs
ProvenanceNotesPurchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from Anders Zorn at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, June 1893.
Object/Provenance
