Top Comments: the Isabella Stewart Gardner edition

A woman whose name means more than simply a major art heist, after the jump: 

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Regular readers of my weekly offerings in Cheers & Jeers know that I regularly include art exhibitions each week. I’m not an art history major, nor a painter in my spare time … it just adds to my life. I believe that I had heard of the art theft that is a central part of this essay, yet it was startling when I visited a museum and saw empty picture frames … for a reason. Yet the woman who founded the museum in question needs to be known for more than that. I’ll see if I can shed some light.

Isabella Stewart was born in New York in 1840, the daughter of a wealthy linen merchant family. They moved to Paris when she was age sixteen, and on a trip to Milan viewed the Renaissance painting-filled home of Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli— which gave her the idea to do the same, if she ever had the chance.

On a trip to Boston, she met and married one of its most eligible bachelors (Jack Gardner) when she was age twenty in 1860. Isabella’s father gave them the gift of a home at 152 Beacon Street, where they lived until Jack’s death in 1898. The couple had a son who died before age two, and Isabella had a miscarriage — leading the couple to tour Europe as a way to ease the strain and they returned to be an engaged society couple. When Jack’s brother died suddenly in 1875, the couple “adopted” his three children, helping to raise them.

On their frequent trips to Europe, they began collecting art … and after her husband’s death in 1898, she set-out to realize her dream of a homey art gallery. She purchased a home in the Fenway section of Boston, filled it with not only paintings but also sculptures, tapestries and decorative arts. It was the first public museum in America with a glass-covered garden courtyard, and opened to the public on January 1, 1903.

  Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Isabella Stewart Gardener died in July, 1924 at the age of eighty-four and her will included stipulations as to how the museum should be run. She was known as a free spirit who — in 1912 — attended a very formal Boston Symphony Orchestra performance and caused quite a stir …. wearing a white headband with the words “Oh, you Red Sox” …. which seems quite apropos as I write this.

The site of her former home (52 Beacon Street) was demolished in 1904, and today is a stop on the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail.

 John Singer Sargent portrait

Among the treasures she accumulated are works by Fra Angelico, Cellini, John Singer Sargent, plus book collections, letters from people ranging from T.S. Eliot to Sarah Bernhardt, to ceramics, textiles ….. the amount of paintings are small compared to the breadth of objects on display.

Two of the more valuable paintings you can see today include this work by Titian ..

  The Rape of Europa — circa 1560

…. and this work by Sandro Botticelli …. no curls visible in this painting:

  The Story of Lucretia (circa 1500)

Alas, we must now turn to a story from eighteen years ago. Just after midnight following St. Patrick’s Day (obviously a big night in Boston) two men disguised as policemen were able to con their way in, fooling two security guards into believing they were investigating a crime (as part of a ruse). One of the guards admitted he was worried that he would miss the next night’s Grateful Dead concert. They were able to pilfer thirteen works of art valued at around $500 million.

  Police sketch of the two crime suspects

Among the more valuable paintings stolen — although more valuable paintings and works were left — include five works by Edgar Degas, and this work by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer — one of only thirty-four works by Vermeer and valued at over $200 million.

      The Concert — circa 1666

In addition, this was the only known seascape by Rembrandt van Rijn:

 Storm on the Sea of Galilee — from 1633

The case is still ongoing, with the FBI concluding that the thieves were amateurs (leaving more valuable works behind) and crude in their methods (cutting and smashing frames open). Rewards for the return of works have risen to $10 million currently, yet no attempts to fence these items have yet been detected. In 2013, the FBI publicly mentioned two gangster suspects: Bobby Donati (killed in 1991) and Bobby Gentile… yet are not able to prove anything.

Boston Globe reporter Stephen Kurkjian has written a 2015 book entitled Master Thieves: the Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World’s Greatest Art Heist and is currently hosting a podcast/magazine series on the crime. As noted earlier: if you visit the museum, you’ll see empty picture frames among other exhibits.

Awaiting the return of this space’s work

Fortunately, the Gardner Museum is still a wonder to see. It is near the Museum of Fine Arts (just get off at the Museum stop on the subway) and unlike the MFA or other major art museums: this can be covered in one afternoon. In keeping with the free spirit of its founder, the first choreographer-in-residence commissioned a series of tours with dancers, who interacted with museum patrons:

“House of Accumulated Beauties"

And finally admission is free to those attending who can either prove (a) that it is their birthday, or (b) that their name is …. Isabella.

Let’s close with a classical work that Emerson, Lake & Palmer helped revive in the 1970’s — and when I visited the Alte Pinakothek Museum in Munich, Germany back in 1999, a docent alerted visitors to the 5:00 PM closing time by carrying a portable tape recorder .. that played this introduction to Mussorgsky’s work.

x xYouTube Video

Now, on to Top Comments:

From elanacarlena:

In the diary by polecat about the downfall of Megyn Kelly— I'd like to nominate modesttraveller … who gives background on why Jesus wasn't white and why Santa wasn't white. For those rescued from the fog of Faux News, this kind of information is important. It could be a diary itself.

And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........

In the front-page-story about the case brought against the Trumpster by Summer Zervos—  which they hope to get to discovery — cassidy3 offers a concise reason why Micheal Cohen may yet play a key role in this case.

TOP PHOTOS October 24th, 2018 Next - enjoy jotter's wonderful *PictureQuilt™* below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment that features that photo. (NOTE: Any missing images in the Quilt were removed because (a) they were from an unapproved source that somehow snuck through in the comments, or (b) it was an image from the DailyKos Image Library which didn't have permissions set to allow others to use it.)

And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo — mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:

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