Reflecting to the trends of current museum practices, institutions are determined to be more inclusive and diverse across their staff members and the communities they serve. Having staff members working together as a team from various backgrounds can result in a functional unit that is …
It’s an image etched into our national consciousness as Americans, perhaps from before we even know its context: that of a toddler John F. Kennedy, Jr. saluting his father’s casket. It was November 25th, 1963, making it the little boy’s third birthday, and while standing …
If you live in Boston, you’ve probably visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a beloved local museum that preserves the impressive art collection of philanthropist and socialite Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840–1924). Fewer of us, though, are familiar with the museum’s complicated legal history, and the public uproar that occurred when the museum announced its intention to expand several years ago. January of this year marked the ten-year-anniversary of the opening of the museum’s New Wing, so there is no better time to look back on this complicated but fascinating story.
On January 19, 2012, museum director Anne Hawley, then-mayor Thomas Menino, and several museum trustees gathered in front of the 70,000-square-foot New Wing and cut a red ribbon to formalize its opening to the public. But despite what this fanfare might suggest, the completion of the New Wing—and the years-long construction project that preceded it—were not without their share of controversy. While museum stakeholders envisioned the New Wing as a symbol of the museum’s entry into the twenty-first century, opponents saw it as an affront to Isabella Stewart Gardner’s stated desire that the museum not change in any way following her death, and a brazen attempt by the museum to ruin the institution’s unique history. Contentious debate ensued as supporters and opponents of the New Wing alike insisted that Isabella herself would have taken their side.
John Singer Sargent’s 1888 portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner.
Isabella Stewart Gardner, born in New York City in 1840, first developed a passion for art collecting after learning that she could not have children, and dedicating herself to travel instead. A large inheritance obtained upon the death of her father enabled Isabella to purchase works by renowned artists including Vermeer, Whistler, Titian, and Degas, and before long, her collection had outgrown her home at 152 Beacon Street. At this point Isabella and her husband, Jack, decided to build a museum to house their collection, which ultimately numbered over 2,500 works spanning from ancient Egypt to their own day.
Just a few weeks after Jack’s untimely passing in 1899, Isabella acquired the land in the Back Bay Fens where her museum now stands. Devastated by the loss of her husband, Isabella threw herself into the building project, and after nearly four years of construction and curation, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (then called Fenway Court) opened on January 1, 1903. Visitors coming to the museum in search of a lesson in art history were surely disappointed: the museum offered no maps or guides, and almost none of the works had labels explaining their significance; instead, the arrangement of the collection was driven purely by Isabella’s eccentric taste.
It was exactly this unique arrangement that Isabella sought to preserve in perpetuity through her famously restrictive will, which mandated that the collection at Fenway Court was to be preserved without alteration “for the education and enjoyment of the public forever.” Absolutely nothing in the museum was to be moved or sold, and no additional artworks could be added, or else the entire collection would be dispersed. In effect, the museum was to be frozen in time even as the years wore on.
Isabella’s wishes were followed to the letter for decades, but by the turn of the twenty-first century, it became clear that the will’s restrictiveness was jeopardizing the museum’s success. Visitorship had skyrocketed, and the original building proved poorly suited for hosting hundreds of thousands of visitors per year. New spaces like a café, a bookstore, and a gallery for temporary installations were stuffed uncomfortably into the space. Conservation was becoming a challenge as well: the haphazard arrangement of the galleries combined with the high number of visitors meant that people were constantly bumping into the historic furniture, damaging it over time.
Because Isabella’s museum couldn’t be changed without violating her will, it seemed that the museum had no choice but to eventually fall into chaos and disrepair. But with the arrival of director Anne Hawley in 1989, a new vision for the museum began to take shape.
The New Wing of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, opened in 2012.
The board ultimately concluded that the only viable path forward was to add a new wing to the museum, and in 2004 they hired architect Renzo Piano to take charge of the project. Piano’s four-story New Wing, which opened to the public in 2012, sits a short distance from the original building. Its glass walls allow sunlight to flood the space during the day and provide a clear view of Isabella’s museum. It features a performance hall, a gallery for temporary exhibitions, classrooms and art workshops, conservation labs, a restaurant and gift shop, and nearly doubles the museum’s footprint, successfully addressing many of the problems that the original building faced after nearly a century of operation.
Hawley and the board acknowledged that while the addition of the New Wing was technically a violation of Isabella’s will, it was an unavoidable necessity. Supporters of the New Wing project also emphasized that Isabella’s collection would remain virtually untouched as the New Wing was an entirely separate but complementary space. But nevertheless, several local groups, including the Friends of Historic Mission Hill, voiced serious trepidation about the project, and the museum’s willingness to disregard Isabella’s explicit instructions. As such, in 2008, when the museum formally sought legal permission to break Isabella’s will, the Friends also filed a brief, pleading with city authorities to halt the project.
Ultimately, though, the project proceeded unabated, and the New Wing has not suffered for popularity since it opened. In 2016, it was awarded the Harleston Parker Medal, which the Boston Society of Architects has awarded to the “most beautiful building” in the city every year since 1921.
Regardless of how we each feel about the New Wing, we can all agree that Isabella herself—whether she would love or hate the New Wing itself—would have gloried in the drama surrounding the project. She was known by her contemporaries to be an unconventional woman, at least by the standards of her own time, and as journalist Francis Storrs has written, in her lifetime she “happily watched her mythology grow, even if it meant letting false accounts of her exploits go uncorrected in the press;” she even went so far as to advise a friend to never “spoil a good story by telling the truth.” The construction of the New Wing certainly made for a good story that aroused strong opinions in its various constituents—which Isabella herself surely would have appreciated.
One of the best parts of living in an increasingly digitized era is the greater access to things we may never otherwise encounter. For me, that means seeing museums and exhibits across the globe that were, at one point, completely out of reach. One such …
“It disgusted me even to move,” wrote an artist to his younger brother, “and nothing would have been so agreeable to me as never wake up again.” The year was 1889; the place, the Saint-Paul Asylum in Paris; the artist, Vincent van Gogh. We’re accustomed …
It may already be February, but in my opinion it’s never too late to set New Years’ Resolutions, and one of mine—maybe not surprisingly—is to visit more museums! With museums increasingly reopening after the pandemic restrictions of the past two years, there has never been a better time to schedule a museum visit or two. Here are a few of the Boston-area museums I’m looking forward to checking out in 2022!
The newly-reopened galleries of Dutch and Flemish Art at the MFA.
The Museum of Fine Arts
The MFA has long been one of my favorite museums, but when I heard that the museum recently reopened its Greek, Roman and Byzantine and Dutch and Flemish galleries, I knew I had to plan another visit ASAP! Between these two recently reimagined spaces and the museum’s many other ever-popular collections, there is always something new to discover at the MFA. And don’t forget that Tufts students can take advantage of free admission!
The Museum of Science
Even though I’m an art historian myself, I’ve always loved visiting science museums. And despite living in Boston for nearly two years now, I still haven’t taken the time to visit Boston’s Museum of Science! From animals, to engineering, to outer space, and beyond, there is something for everyone at the Museum of Science, including adults. Check out a list of their current exhibits here!
The Boston Athenaeum
The Mapparium at the Mary Baker Eddy Library.
Another museum that has been on my radar since I moved to Boston is the Mary Baker Eddy Library, a historic research library that also offers a wide range of exhibitions and special events. I’m particularly curious about the Mapparium, a three-story-tall stained-glass globe that dates from 1935. The site is open every day from 10am–5pm, and admission is $6 (but NEMA members can get in for free!).
The Museum of Bad Art
“Charlie and Sheba,” a 2007 painting by an anonymous artist that can be found at the Museum of Bad Art.
Located right by Tufts’ campus in Davis Square, the Museum of Bad Art describes itself as “the world’s only museum dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition, and celebration of bad art in all its forms.” While the museum is currently closed indefinitely, you can still explore their collection online. While I won’t disagree that many of the museum’s holdings are in fact pretty bad, they’re also fascinating and incredibly entertaining!
The Harvard Art Museums
Another museum not far from Tufts’ campus is the Harvard Art Museums, comprised of the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum. The Harvard Art Museums boast a diverse collection, with artworks from all over the world and ranging from ancient to modern and contemporary. And if art isn’t your thing, Harvard also has a bunch of other museums including the Warren Anatomical Museum, the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and more. Personally, I’m looking forward to checking out all of them soon! Tufts students can get free admission to the Harvard Art Museums, too—but don’t forget to make your reservation in advance here!
Are there any museums on your 2022 bucket list? Let us know in the comments!