TRAVEL AS INSPIRATION

Isabella Stewart Gardner loved travel and spent much of her time away from home. Her trips brought her into contact with exotic

cultures and, most importantly, with the past. The museum's architecture and whimsical arrangement reflect these experiences.
   

LIFE IN THE MUSEUM

Mrs. Gardner's work did not end with the opening of the museum. She ensured that musicians, dancers, and artists filled her galleries and enriched the already vibrant atmosphere of Fenway Court (as the Museum was called in Mrs. Gardner's time).
 
COLLECTING FRIENDS AND ART: OLD MASTERS AND NEW TALENT

Mrs. Gardner had help in building her collection. The many young artists and scholars that she befriended were always on the lookout for potential purchases.
In exchange, they benefited from her important patronage and often sold her their own work.
   

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE MUSEUM
In September 1896, the architect Willard T. Sears (1837-1920) wrote in his diary: Met Mrs. John L. Gardner on the train going to Ruth Simpkin's wedding and
she asked me to see if there were any restrictions on her Beacon Street house lots, and asked me to make plans for her showing a Museum with living apartments over. She wanted me to keep the matter from everybody.
April 23, 2003 - August 24, 2003

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum opened to the public 100 years ago, but the story of its creation begins much earlier. Many of Isabella Stewart Gardner's interests played a critical role in the conception of her museum: travel, music, literature, religion, gardening, and perhaps most of all, her friendships with artists, writers, and thinkers.

These activities represent Mrs. Gardner's process of self-education. Her collection of both experiences and art objects manifests itself today in the museum she created. Mrs. Gardner saw Fenway Court (as she called the museum) as a place for the "education and enjoyment of the public forever." This exhibition charts that vision.
© Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum