Boston and New England: Wednesday: Gardner and Fine Arts Museums

Wednesday was a full day. I planned to visit the Gardner Museum, finish exploring the third of the MFA that I didn't get to explore previously, and attend a film festival screening. I took a smattering of photos during the day. This blog post describes most of my reactions to the sights I saw. The pictures simply augment it in a few areas.

Isabel Stewart Gardner Museum
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is eclectic. Designed by the eccentric Gardner, its collection includes chairs (scattered around the museum), tapestries, sculptures, architecture, paintings, bas relief, books, and stained glass windows. Most artwork is European, though the museum also has some pieces from Greece, from elsewhere around the Mediterranean, and from Japan.

I don't lightly call Isabel Gardner kooky. Her will still controls how the museum is run and how and where pieces are shown. Indeed, she prohibited moving any object. She also requires that mass be held in the miniature chapel in the building on her birthday. Furthermore, some of the pieces are unlabeled because Gardner never recorded where she acquired them or from whom. Art historians have been able to determine the creator of only some of these items.

I didn't like the museum and ended up only spending an hour there. One major reason is that most items are presented without commentary. (I think that's part of her will as well.) I borrowed a guide from the information desk--it helped me explore the collection, but looking things up was a pain. (Incidentally, I think all museum information desks should allow patrons to check out collection guides to carry while wandering. It's a great benefit!) The only worthwhile feature of the museum is the stunning courtyard, modeled after a Venetian palazzo. But what a feature it is! It alone made my visit and the entry fee to the museum worthwhile. Sadly, cameras were prohibited in the museum and there are no good pictures of the courtyard on the web that I could easily find.

The museum had a few empty frames, accompanied by signs about stolen paintings. I asked the information desk about them and they gave me a little binder to read. The thieves dressed as Boston police officers and made off with multiple Rembrandts and Degas, and a Manet and a Vermeer. Knowing the particulars is neat; one normally cannot learn details about art thiefs. The information desk comes through again!

Museum of Fine Arts
After the Gardner Museum, I explored more of the Museum of Fine Arts. I went through its exhibits on Egypt, Greece, Rome (which has many busts), the Himalayan region, the Medieval period, and European masters (including many religious works displaying gruesome scenes). The Roman exhibit had an interesting video about how the museum restored an old Roman courtyard mosaic. I also finished my previously started viewing of the Chinese and Japanese exhibits. These covered a variety of eras. The Japanese exhibit surprised me by the quantity of its Buddhist content; I had forgotten Buddhism was popular there.

In addition, the MFA had a special exhibit on a Berkeley professor who experimented with textiles and basket weaving. I was amused I traveled across the country to see something that came from so close to home.

Since it was Wednesday, after 4:00pm, the museum became free and many students appeared. Most sketched.

Dinner and Movies
I had a light lunch and, despite having two mid-afternoon snacks, was nonetheless hungry at dinnertime. A short walk across the Fens brought me to Brown Sugar Cafe, a Thai restaurant with a number of re-imaginings of Thai dishes. After dinner, I walked back across the Fens to finish seeing the last few rooms of the MFA. I then killed a few minutes until the Turkish Film Festival screening began. (It happened to be conveniently located at the MFA.) I saw Forsaken Paths and The Housekeeper.