It had been many years since my husband and I had been to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. So last Saturday we ventured out for a visit. The collection wasn't as lovely as I had remembered and the exhibits were overcrowded with pieces of art, textiles, furniture, and bric-a-brac. I felt like I had been transported back to the late 1800s to watch an episode of "Hoarders." Mrs. Gardner took a controlling role in not only building the museum, but also arranging and displaying her many pieces of art and artifacts that she had collected over her years of extensive travel. When she passed away in 1924, she left a $1 million endowment with stipulations for the support of the museum including that the permanent collection not be significantly altered. This woman as a patron of the arts, was also somewhat of a control freak. I think her photograph reveals some of that personality. When my husband and I were reading the history wall, we both simultaneously started humming the song from the Wizard of Oz when Almira Gulch (as played by Margaret Hamilton) came on her bicycle to the Gale farm with an order from the sheriff to confiscate Dorothy's dog, Toto.The museum does have a lovely enclosed courtyard that is quite remarkable. I can imagine how wonderful it would have been to the people of Boston to come here in the middle of the cold winter and enjoy the greenery and peace of this space. The flowers remind us that, yes, Spring will come!
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