(c) 2017 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Ignacy Jan Paderewski

photographer Elliott & Fry (British, 1863 - 1962)

Dateabout 1890

Place MadeLondon, Greater London, England, Europe

MediumPlatinum print

Dimensions25.1 x 20 cm (9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in.)

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Accession numberP1w23

eMuseum ID727615

EmbARK ObjectID24422

TMS Source ID8915

Last Updated8/9/24

Status

Not on view

Web CommentaryIn 1892, Isabella Stewart Gardner invited composer-pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941) to give a private performance at her Beacon Street home. Paderewski accepted on the condition that he would play for Gardner alone, so she agreed not to invite guests—but hid her friend Clayton Johns behind tapestries in an adjacent room so that he could listen in. She subsequently convinced Paderewski to play for students at the New England Conservatory of Music, paying him handsomely for both engagements.

BibliographyNotesGilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 17.

MarksNotesInscribed and signed in ink (bottom): à Madam Isabella Gardner (sic) hommage / I J Paderewski
Printed on bottom: Elliott & Fry 55 Baker St W
Printed on verso: Elliott & Fry, / 55 Baker St, W. / No.....

ProvenanceNotesPossibly a gift from Polish composer and pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941) to Isabella Stewart Gardner when he performed at her Beacon Street home in 1892.