(c) 2018 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Set Design for The Mastersingers of Nürnberg

primary Joseph Urban (Vienna, 1872 - 1933, New York City)

composer Richard Wagner (Leipzig, 1813 - 1883, Venice)

Dateearly 20th century

Place MadeNuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

MediumPen and ink, watercolor, and gouache on paper

Dimensions23.5 x 33.66 cm (9 1/4 x 13 1/4 in.)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Accession numberP33s54

eMuseum ID717963

EmbARK ObjectID20153

TMS Source ID7017

Last Updated8/9/24

Status

Not on view

Web Commentary

One of Isabella Stewart Gardner’s musical loves was the German composer Richard Wagner, best known for his monumental operas. The most visible token of Isabella’s love for Wagner in the Museum is this richly detailed set design for one of Wagner’s operas--"Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg." The colorful drawing was a gift from Isabella’s friend Joseph Urban, a renowned architect and set designer who designed over 50 productions for the Metropolitan Opera and served as the art director of the Boston Opera Company. Urban gave this drawing to Isabella for Christmas in 1914, presumably after she saw and loved the performance produced by the Boston Opera House earlier that year.

BibliographyNotesAna Barrett, "Belle of the Opera: Gardner and Wagner," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 20 July 2021, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/belle-opera-gardner-and-wagner

MarksNotesInscribed (lower right corner): "JOS. URBAN. 13."
Inscribed (lower border): "THE. MASTERSINGERS. OF. NÜRNBERG. SECOND. ACT. IN. THE. STREETS. BEFORE. THE. HOUSES. OF. POGNER. AND. SACHS."
Inscribed (on back of frame): "Given to me by Urban Dec 24 1914." [in Isabella Stewart Gardner's hand]

ProvenanceNotesGift from the American architect and scenographer Joseph Urban (1872-1933) to Isabella Stewart Gardner on 24 December 1914.