Letter from Joseph Lindon Smith to Isabella Stewart Gardner,
undated.

Smith's letters are often decorated with his ingenious drawings, and always distinguished by his delightful calligraphic handwriting.

Like other women of her class, Isabella Stewart Gardner had bought small works of art to decorate her house. In the 1880s, she established close friendships with James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, and other painters, and collected their works.

A turning point arrived in 1891 when the death of her father left Mrs. Gardner with an inheritance of $2.1 million. She and her husband decided that she would spend this money as she liked on art. Without any expert advice, she made an astonishing start on this new passion by buying one of the rare paintings by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. However, she soon realized that she needed help with the European art market, and turned to a few friends for help. In particular, she relied on the advice of the young Bernard Berenson.

The relationship between Berenson and Gardner was complex. When he began to advise her in 1894, Berenson had almost no experience as a connoisseur or advisor; Mrs. Gardner was therefore instrumental in building his reputation. She decided what kinds of paintings to buy, and Berenson in turn found extraordinary paintings. She usually took his advice, but occasionally rejected paintings not to her liking, and sometimes asked him to pursue specific items.

In addition to Bernard Berenson, Mrs. Gardner had help in building her collection from several other of her young male friends. Denis Miller Bunker, Ralph Curtis, Richard Norton, John Singer Sargent, Joseph Lindon Smith, Denman Ross, and Dodge Macknight helped her most often. These artists and scholars were on the lookout for potential purchases on their travels abroad. They found art objects for Isabella, and she sometimes helped them by buying their works.

By 1896 her success in buying significant paintings by Titian, Botticelli, and Rembrandt brought the realization that she was building a world-class collection. Thereafter, she focused her attention on developing a museum for the Boston public. But it would be a museum like no other.

Postcard from Dodge Macknight to Isabella Stewart Gardner
31 Dec 1911,
from East Sandwich, Mass

Mrs. Gardner had already bought several watercolors by Dodge Macknight (1860-1950) when he sent her this humorously doctored postcard, in which he wrote "Buy Macknight's Pictures" across the wall of the Museum.

Letter from Ralph Curtis to
Isabella Stewart Gardner
1884, from Venice

His drawing of The Standard Bearer of the Harvest Festival, by Antonio Mancini, and his enthusiastic support of his fellow artist's work, convinced Mrs. Gardner to buy the painting, which now hangs in the Blue Room.

Bernard Berenson
Sarah Choate Sears
American, 1858-1935

photograph, 1903: signed on mat, lower left: Sarah C. Sears