Before Mrs. Gardner collected art she collected rare books and manuscripts. There are 42 manuscripts in the collection in total, all dating between the 13th -- 18th century including 28 Italian, 7 Islamic, 3 French, 2 German and 2 English books. One of Isabella Stewart Gardner's collectors was famous art historian Bernard Berenson. He and Mrs. Gardner were very close friends.
On the creation of her Museum in 1917, Mrs. Gardner said... "Years ago I decided that the greatest need in our Country was Art... We were a very young country and had very few opportunities of seeing beautiful things, works of art ... So, I determined to make it my life's work if I could."
In total the ISGM houses over 2,500 objects including paintings, sculptures, furniture, rare books and manuscripts, photographs, textiles and letters.
Mrs. Gardner had close friendships with some of the artists in her collection including John Singer Sargent and
James McNeill Whistler
Mrs. Gardner took great joy in her art collecting.
The words "C'est mon plaisir" (French for "My pleasure") are inscribed above the former Museum entrance.
The Gardners made regular trips to Europe, often collecting as they traveled. After one notably long stay in Europe in 1894 they returned to America having acquired 19 new paintings.
The first thing I gravitated toward after paying the entrance fee at the door of the Venetian-style palazzo was the flowering inner courtyard that rises four stories up.
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Isabella Stewart Gardner was a Boston Society woman, who had a beautiful building constructed in the Fenway which was modeled after a 15th century Venetian palace.
Before she passed away in 1924,
she had stipulated in her will that the building remain unchanged, forever.
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This Gardner Museum contains a beautiful courtyard, with flowered gardens, protected from the New England weather by a glass roof.
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| Giorgione's Christ Bearing the Cross (c1500) |
The museum's collection is very significant, containing Asian, European, and American works of art. Some of the important paintings include:
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| Titian's Rape of Europa (c1562) |
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| Rembrandt's Self Portrait, Age 23 |
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| John Singer Sargent's El Jaleo (1882) |
Other works of art include ancient and medieval sculpture and objects, as well as the building itself.
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A great feature of the museum is the atmosphere of being in a wealthy residence. Visitors can roam the floors casually and observe the artworks, unlike modern museums with tall painted walls and fluorescent lights everywhere.
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The Gardner Museum is a cosmopolitan jewel in
Boston's Back Bay.
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Mr. Albright
made his New York and Kennedy Center recital debuts on the Young Concert
Artists Series and at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Orchestral
debuts included the San Francisco Symphony with conductor Alondra de la Parra,
the Seattle Symphony Orchestra with conductor Gerard Schwarz, and the Boston
Pops with conductor Keith Lockhart. 
