Spring has officially sprung, the #nasturtiums are back at the #GardnerMuseum, and this year they are more riotous and unholy than I’ve ever seen them. As always, I 10/10 recommend you get there ASAP to see them before they’re gone. #bosarts
Do you think this crime will ever be solved?
Follow the page for more daily history!
#ArtHeist #GardnerMuseum #UnsolvedMystery #ArtHistory #TrueCrime #OnThisDay
On March 18 1990 two men in police uniforms walked into the Gardner Museum and left with a billion in art. The paintings are still out there. Retired FBI agent Geoffrey Kelly takes us inside the hunt. #GeoffreyKelly #TrueCrime #ArtHeist #GardnerMuseum #13PerfectFugitives
(clockwise from top left) NARCISSISTER Untitled Self-Portrait Series (Pink Nails), 2012 Untitled Self-Portrait Series (Cracked Mask), 2012 Untitled Self-Portrait Series (Gold Earrings), 2012 Untitled Self-Portrait Series (Checkered Shirt), 2012 C-prints Courtesy of the artist
DAVID WOJNAROWICZ Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79/2004 Gelatin silver prints Collection of Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip Aarons
MARY REID KELLEY AND PATRICK KELLEY Stills from The Rape of Europa, 2025 Archival pigment print Courtesy of the artist
Opening officially today (though we got a peek last night) Persona: Photography and the Re-Imagined Self at the #GardnerMuseum is one of the best exhibitions I’ve seen there ever. Incredible works on view, don’t miss this one (til May 10). #bosarts
So excited to see Cahun’s work in the upcoming Persona exhibition at the #GardnerMuseum. #bosarts
A young girl fills the frame from the chest up, her head wrapped in layered cloth like a soft bonnet of wide blue-gray stripes alternating with pale bands, leaving a small triangle of dark hair visible at her crown. Her skin is medium-toned with a warm blush across the cheeks. The tip of her nose is slightly reddened, as if from sun or wind. Large, dark brown eyes catch the light with tiny highlights, looking past us to our left. Her mouth is closed, lips full and coral-pink, with a faint shadow at the corners that makes the expression feel guarded or somewhere between patience and reserve. A vivid red scarf is tied beneath her chin, its folds painted in quick, confident strokes. Gold hoop earrings arc along her cheek. She wears a dark charcoal outer layer over a white shirt. The background is an airy off-white, brushed thinly so the brown paper warms the surface. Paint is built up most densely in the face with soft transitions around the nose, eyelids, and chin while the head covering and clothing remain sketchier as visible brush marks and edges that blur into the background. The title places her in Nabeul, Tunisia, and a note on the back hints at how hard-won this sitting was. It mentions children’s “shyness of foreigners” and says that “offers of money or trinkets seldom” persuade one to pose. The wording exposes a colonial-era gaze of curiosity voiced as judgment, yet it also implies the girl’s power to refuse. Slade’s image adds no props or scenery so he stays close to her face and lets the averted eyes keep something private. Made during the period of French control in Tunisia, the portrait becomes a question about looking … and power. Isabella Stewart Gardner bought the work directly from American artist Caleb Arnold Slade in 1921, preserving this encounter.
“A Girl of Nabeul” by Caleb Arnold Slade (American) - Oil on brown paper / 1921 - Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, Massachusetts) #WomenInArt #IsabellaStewartGardnerMuseum #GardnerMuseum #CalebArnoldSlade #Slade #PortraitofaGirl #Nabeul #Tunisia #art #artText #AmericanArt #AmericanArtist
Red and orange blooms with greenery in the background
The amazing courtyard at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 🌺
#blueskyartshow #Small
#womensart #eastcoastkin
#photographersofbluesky
#landscapephotographer #notAI #gardnermuseum
An absolutely *remarkable* concert this afternoon at the #GardnerMuseum from #SashaCooke and #MyraHuang. #bosarts
Orchids in the Courtyard at the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum.
#Photography #People #Boston #GardnerMuseum #Orchids #Plants #Greenhouse
An Orchid at the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum. The Museum’s ever changing plant displays are from their onsite greenhouse.
#Photography #People #Boston #GardnerMuseum #Orchids
lLooking into the Courtyard at the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum, Boston Massachusetts on a gray day.
#Photography #People #Boston #GardnerMuseum
The Raphael Room looking into the Courtyard. Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum “Palace”, Boston Massachusetts on a gray day.
#Photography #People #Boston #GardnerMuseum
Every concert at the #GardnerMuseum is good, but not all of them are as amazing as today’s was. #ClaireChase programmed an outstanding afternoon featuring #KatinkaKleijn, #AlexPeh, and my long-term girlfriend #AisslinnNosky with rep spanning five centuries. #bosarts
I hate gay Halloween what do you mean you’re the #GardnerMuseum heist? #bosarts
(Cc: @patrickmharris.bsky.social #lilbroadwaycupcake)
#GardnerMuseum: two fake police, 13 stolen masterpieces, and 0 arrests.
Maybe this #Heist shows the moment in time when #massmedia and #PublicBroadcasting broadened the publics understanding of the value of #Art and #CulturalHerietage? #PublicHistory #Democratizing #Culture?
#HI6171
#GardnerMuseum: two fake police, 13 stolen masterpieces, and 0 arrests.
Maybe this #Heist shows the moment in time when #massmedia and #PublicBroadcasting broadened the publics understanding of the value of #Art and #CulturalHerietage? #PublicHistory #Democratizing #Culture?
#HI6171
![Top to bottom:
Our Lady of the R. R. [Railroad] Station, 1953
Gouache on paper
Arts Department, Special Collections, Boston Public Library
The Tax Announcements (Old State House), 1954
Gouache on paper
Arts Department, Special Collections, Boston Public Library](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6tn4qpulmj6a7wdstknsmb4m/bafkreidbrzmi2a3ucj4wqfkrs4mmizutj26vh2opmr7ojlttnsonuxq5ci)
Top to bottom: Our Lady of the R. R. [Railroad] Station, 1953 Gouache on paper Arts Department, Special Collections, Boston Public Library The Tax Announcements (Old State House), 1954 Gouache on paper Arts Department, Special Collections, Boston Public Library
In his home, Crite installed art densely and usually without labels, not unlike the Palace of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Three of Crite’s friends who knew and loved him— Johnetta Tinker, Susan Thompson, and Ted Landsmark—curated this installation. Crite made the vast majority of works shown here on his home Multilith press, a type of printing that could easily create a large number of prints. He colored many by hand. Almost all of the pieces are from a local private collection. Two works are from the collection of Johnetta Tinker—and one of these is a portrait of Crite made by Tinker
Streetcar Madonna, 1946 Watercolor with black ink and white gouache over graphite Boston Athenaeum. Gift of the artist, 1971 (A U9 Cri.a. 1946)
Reginald Mobley takes a bow in Calderwood Hall after his performance
What a MAGNIFICENT patrons preview of the #AllanRohanCrite exhibition at the #GardnerMuseum this evening! The art was magnificent and so was the performance by #ReginaldMobley. #bosarts
A flamenco moment becomes theater, architecture, and sound. American artist John Singer Sargent painted “El Jaleo” after sketching dancers and musicians during his 1879 visit to Spain; dozens of oil and graphite studies led to this grand, multi-figure composition. A wide, dark stage fills the scene. At center front, a woman in a flowing off-white skirt and dark shawl dances. Her left arm lifts high, fingers splayed; her right hand gathers her skirt as her foot braces to stamp. She is lit from below so her body throws stark shadows across a gray wall while a semicircle of guitarists and palmas (hand-clappers) drive the rhythm. Above them hang two brown guitars; below are red paint smears and handprints. The very title signals noise and encouragement: in flamenco, “jaleo” refers to syncopated clapping and shouted interjections like “¡olé!” that cheer on the performers and shape the pulse of the scene. When Sargent unveiled the painting at the 1882 Paris Salon, critics hailed its audacity; the scale, raking spotlight, and daring diagonals make you feel the stamping feet and snapped fingers. In Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner elevated that sensation into an environment: she set the canvas in a Moorish arch within her Spanish Cloister, flanked by a mirror that seems to extend the performance into the gallery and everyday objects that “spill” the staging into our space. According to Gardner lore, the setting so impressed her relative T. Jefferson Coolidge that he donated the painting to her when he saw it in place. Sargent’s palette of blacks, chalky whites, and earthen grays is punctuated by flashes of crimson: smeared handprints and spatters on the wall, the visual echo of shouted praise and percussive claps. Shadows amplify motion and sound without moving a brushstroke. The result is not a picturesque “Spain” but a study in how light, bodies, and communal rhythm conjure intensity that turns looking into listening.
“El Jaleo” by John Singer Sargent (American) - Oil on canvas / 1882 -
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, Massachusetts) #WomenInArt #art #GardnerMuseum #artText #JohnSingerSargent #dancer #Sargent #artwork #1880s #AmericanArtist #BlueskyArt #IsabellaStewartGardnerMuseum #flamenco #dance
Fra Angelico, The Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin, c 1425 5/10/18 #gardnermuseum #earlyrenaissance #italy #painting
#patricksaunders #patricksaundersfinearts #saundersfinearts #artdiscussion #artcritique #arttalk #representationalart #representationalpainting #representationalrealism #realism #realistart #americanpainting #americanart #americanartist #johnsingersargent #sargentandparis #gardnermuseum
La Gitana (The Gypsy) was painted in Seville, Spain in 1920 by American artist Louis Kronberg. Her pose is relaxed yet contemplative. She sits slightly angled, her body directed towards us, but her gaze averted. Her left hand rests delicately on her chin, her fingers lightly touching her lips, suggesting a moment of quiet introspection. The woman's features are rendered softly, with subtle shading emphasizing her cheekbones and the curve of her neck. Her dark hair is styled fashionably tight, with soft waves framing her face. Notably, she wears a tall, ornate comb, dark red-brown with lighter details, which rests upright atop her head and seems to be adorned with small, pale yellowish flowers. Her clothing consists of a dark brown shawl, predominantly dark brown with scattered small pink and green floral motifs. The shawl drapes elegantly over her shoulders and falls nearly to her waist, partially obscuring her reddish-orange skirt which is visible at the lower edge of the canvas. The background is a plain, muted greenish-grey, providing a neutral backdrop that draws our attention directly to the unidentified woman. The background's lack of detail intensifies the focus on the figure and her expression. The overall atmosphere is one of quiet contemplation and perhaps even melancholy. The soft lighting and muted colors contribute to a sense of calmness. The woman's expression isn't explicitly sad, but her posture and the way she holds her hand to her face suggests a thoughtful, possibly wistful or even slightly melancholic mood. The overall palette is somewhat subdued, with dark browns and muted greens creating a dignified and slightly mysterious feel. Kronberg’s work shows the influence of his French training — his compositions are solid and his colors soft and harmonious, yet with decided contrasts. Some believe his best work was executed prior to 1915 before he became nearsighted, but “La Gitana” stands out as a wonderful depiction of a beautiful woman.
“La Gitana” by Louis Kronberg (American) - Oil on canvas / 1920 - Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, Massachusetts) #WomeninArt #artwork #art #ArtText #portraitofawoman #LouisKronberg #Kronberg #GardnerMuseum #womensart #romani #oilpainting #AmericanArtist #beauty #blueskyart #bskyart #1920s
🎻🎼Timeline cleanse with the Stradivarius violin once owned by Isabella Stewart Gardner of #Boston. Played by the young and spectacularly talented Maria Dueñas of #Spain.
#music #violin #GardnerMuseum #beethoven
youtu.be/gOYqZODJuPA?...
Where were year a year ago today? I was at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. An amazing museum with lots of stories to tell. Paintings, furnishings, textiles, and more. And of course the courtyard is spectacular!
#museum #art #boston #gardnermuseum
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is dreamy—everything from the courtyard, to every detail of the building, and of course the #art that it houses. Shown here are ceramic tile from 17th century Mexico, a painting by Raphael, and the famous courtyard #gardnermuseum #ceramics #painting #raphael
Listen as writer/director ERIC ARONSON brings Boston and a famed art heist to life with ANY DAY NOW in this exclusive interview. See the film! Now on digital! go.shr.lc/3Eswi47 #anydaynow #ericaronson #gardnermuseum #exclusiveinterview
Listen as PAUL GUILFOYLE discusses ANY DAY NOW, the art heist of the century, the state of the film industry today, and more in this exclusive interview. And check out ANY DAY NOW! Now on digital!
go.shr.lc/4jMlixu
#anydaynow #paulguilfoyle #gardnermuseum #exclusiveinterview
