Sargent on Location: Gardners First Artist-in-Residence

The collection at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum includes an astonishing array of objects, including renowned paintings, rare books, sculpture, and decorative arts, as well as more personal items such as collected letters, Isabellas own correspondence, and ephemera. Mirroring Isabellas inimitable gallery installations, this publication uses both fine and decorative art, photographs, and correspondence to provide a snapshot in time of the first few years of the museum, in which the collection and its carefully curated spaces inspired new works of art. As the museums first artist-in-residence, Sargent fulfilled Gardners hopes for a new kind of cultural institution in Boston, one that would inspire creativity, cultivate artistic talent, and bring joy to artists and amateurs alike. Sargent painted five portraits during his stay at the museum and John Templeman Coolidge, a friend of Gardners, captured Sargent at work in the Gothic Room in seven candid photographs. Cigarette in mouth, brush in hand, and a smile on his face, Sargent is seen painting Gretchen Osgood Warren and her daughter who are posing and laughing. This vibrant double portrait stands as a testament to Sargents absorption of the museums inspirational qualities and his sensitivity to his subject. Gretchen Osgood Warren was intellectually ambitious and after sitting for her portrait with Sargent, she moved to England with her family and pursued a degree in philosophy and metaphysics at Oxford University; when she returned to Boston, she pursued writing poetry. Gardner embraced an increasingly progressive view of womens rights by the turn of the century and looked approvingly on the educational, political, and professional ambitions of Gretchen Warrens generation. In Warren, Gardner also discovered a deeply appreciative and sympathetic friend. The eighteen letters between the two women, published here for the fi rst time, illustrate an intimate thirty-five year friendship sharing lifes joys, successes, hardships, and losses. This publication is the latest in the Close Up series of books accompanying Gardner Museum exhibitions which showcase aspects of the museums outstanding permanent collection.