Archives of American Art

Isabella Stewart Gardner papers

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.gardisab
Creators:
Gardner, Isabella Stewart, 1840-1924
Dates:
1760-1956
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
40 Microfilm reels
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Letters, business records, diary, and photographs.
Scope and Contents
REEL 380-413: Primarily correspondence, mostly Gardner's own, but including family correspondence and Gardner Museum correspondence.
Scope and Contents
REELS 631-632: Personal papers of Gardner and some records of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum including dealers' files containing invoices, notes, cancelled checks, and letters; a record book, "Prices Paid for Paintings," 1917; a record book, "Prices Paid for Works of Art"; 118 installation photographs of the museum as arranged by Gardner, 1924; a diary kept in Egypt, 1874, with sketches; a diary kept in Shanghai and India, 1883-1884; "Directions for my funeral," 1912; and "Suggestions for Running a Museum," 1913.
Scope and Contents
REELS 696-698: Letters from Bernard Berenson to Gardner, 1887-1924. Letters contain references to literary topics, Berenson's impressions of Europe, various paintings and artists, advice to Gardner on the purchase of paintings and information on their sale.
Scope and Contents
REEL 846: Checklist of Gardner's letters to Bernard and Mary Berenson, 1894-1924; typescripts of personal and official correspondence (originals found on AAA microfilm reels 696-698), 1887-1924.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Isabella Stewart Gardner was an art patron, collector, and museum founder in Boston, Mass. Immediately after graduation from Harvard, Bernard Berenson was hired by Gardner to travel throughout Italy collecting Italian Renaissance art for her recreated Venetian palazzo in Boston. She established her palazzo as a museum of fine European art with stipulations that after her death none of the exhibited works was to be moved or rearranged, but left as she had designed during her lifetime.

Administration

Existence and Location of Copies
35mm microfilm reels 380-413, 631-632, 696-698, and 846 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Existence and Location of Originals
Originals in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, Mass.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Microfilm lent by Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for duplicating, 1972-1975.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Massachusetts -- Boston Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art, Renaissance -- Massachusetts -- Boston Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art, Italian -- Italy -- Venice Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painting, Renaissance Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculpture, Renaissance Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art patrons -- Massachusetts -- Boston Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art museums -- Massachusetts -- Boston Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Berenson, Bernard, 1865-1959 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Duveen Brothers Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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