Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Reviews 3

HE

Heather Leosz

This is one of my favorite places in the entire world. I live near Boston, so Im fortunate that I can visit whenever I want. I have been to museums in several countries around the world, but I could never stop going to the ISG. It is unlike any other. I think the people that gave the museum negative reviews did not understand its "raison detre." The reason why it exists is that Mrs. Gardner (or as someone called her, "some old lady") collected all of these pieces because she loved them. She did not collect them so that she could someday put together a cohesive museum with equal parts Renaissance, Neoclassicism, Romantic, Modern, etc. She obtained for herself what she wanted and what she valued and was gracious enough to put all of these beautiful pieces into one place so that someday the public could see them too. She invited them into her home (which is what it was) to see her treasures. The museum honors her wishes to keep things as they were when she lived there, which is why you dont see a mix of genres, such as in the MFA. This museum is not customized for the publics wants and needs; it has been left for the most part untouched according to Mrs. Gardners wishes. One review mentioned that some of the rooms were too dark. This is how they were meant to be and are most beautiful this way. This is not a museum in which each piece is perfectly lit and given the same attention as every other piece. Another review mentioned that there were too many religious pieces; again- these things are what Mrs. Gardner loved, and they were very special to her (because she was religious.) If these visitors didnt learn about these things when they were there, they sadly missed out on a great deal! The art works are NOT labeled because she did not want them to be. She wanted the visitors to not get caught up in titles and dates but to really enjoy looking at the pieces. There are guided tours so that you can learn about the pieces, so the museum does understand that people may want to know more, and they try to accommodate you in this way. I am in love and always will be in love with this place, and I hope it never changes. The new wing is beautiful, and I think it was a great addition, but the old wing and is perfect and Im grateful that the museum has honored Mrs. Gardners wishes by keeping it as it was before she died. It would be a shame to disrupt her special place, and she would be extremely happy to see that it remains as it was to this day. Bravo, ISG Museum- keep up the good work! I will be in for a visit soon! <3

MI

Michael P. Reilly

This past July, my family and I took guests from overseas to see the museum. It was very lovely, but I am not writing about the museum. I am writing about the staff and the pervasive rude undercurrents to patrons. We arrived at shortly after openning on July 3rd. The party consisted of our two guests from overseas, my wife, our two, 3 year-old sons and myself. Upon entering the building, we were greeted by a young woman slouched at the counter with her arms crossed on it. While I was handling entry into the museum, my sons were anxious to go inside and waiting at the entryway with the rest of the party. While I was dealing with tickets, my sons were interested in opening and closing with the outer glass door. With a sour face, the entrance guard went to the door, pushed our sons away and closed the door. My wife went to tell him that she did not think that was very kind and that the guard could have behaved more gently toward children. With the same expression, he told her that he wanted the door closed and did not apologize. We proceeded to the cloister near the coat check room. Other patrons were there, some sitting on the stone wall, others placing their items there. Our three year old sons proceeded to the short wall to climb it - there was no sign that said "please do not sit or stand here". We were quickly told that our children should not climb on the wall. We complied, but were not pleased with how the attendant addressed us. As we started to tour the museum, again and again, staff were abrupt or outright rude when asking our naturally curious three year old children to "not touch that" or "do not go there" - this was especially rude when there were no signs indicating that such behavior would have been unwelcome. Because our children wished to touch a number of items, my wife and I held our sons hands for the remainder of our very short stay. However the attendants manner continued to be brusque and cold as they told us to not let our children touch items when we were clearly keeping them away from items. We finally left the museum after seeing less than half of the first and second floors, quietly and very disappointed. The only pleasant experience with an employees was a young man at the coat check room. He was personable and affable. However from the entry to the museum, we were greeted with a bored looking receptionist and throughout with rude exhibit attendants. I felt ashamed to be bringing foreign guests to an American museum that had such an poor attitude to its patrons.

A

A Private User

The ISG has an extraordinary collection, with the pieces maintained as Gardner originally collected them. The art and the setting are the main draws. The art itself is top flight, and in particular it has one of the strongest Italian Renaissance collections Ive seen in America. The Rafael portrait is absolutely gorgeous, as is the Piero Della Francesca (probably the best PDF Ive seen outside of Europe). Theres also a very nice Rembrant, a nice Titian, a nice G. Bellini and a couple nice Boticellis (by nice I mean relative to the artists oeuvre- each of these is, on its own terms, stunning). There are a number of other European masters too (Cranach, Peselino, etc), but it was the Rafael, the PDF, and the Titian that really stuck out. Theres also a quite solid American collection- Sargent and Whistler- but I didnt spend as much time with those. The setting is fairly unique, especially among American museums. The work is maintained as Gardner collected it about a century ago, meaning the collection is fairly eclectic, and the rooms have decorative furniture and some of her personal items as well as traditional art. The art placement is less sterile than in most contemporary American museums (though this makes it slightly harder to view some pieces); think a cross between the Soane Museum and the Wallace Gallery, less cluttered/claustrophobic than the Soane but less polished than the Wallace. As others have mentioned, theres a beautiful courtyard- dont just look at it from the ground floor, but from one of the floors thats a bit higher up, you get a better sense of the whole architectural plan. If you stay long enough on a sunny day, there are some beautiful light effects as the sun moves across the sky and the rays hit different parts of the Courtyard. The mood is quiet and stately- they have a strict no cell phone policy (and will ask you to put it away if you take it out, even if just to text)- but I found they had no problem with conversations with other people. This is a place to look at art, not to babysit your kids or hang out with your friends. Theres a small gift shop (which had some nice things) and cafe, which maintain the idiosyncratic, less corporate character of the museum. If youre wondering why there are few labels, its because Gardners will stipulated that the museum could not be changed- thus no labels. This also explains why there are a few prominent missing paintings in one of the rooms- they were stolen in the 1990 and cant be replaced.

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