The first historic exhibition in the Hostetter Gallery in the Gardner Museum's new Renzo Piano-designed wing presented new international scholarship about Anders Zorn, considered one of the most significant artists of the Belle Epoque. Although highly esteemed by contemporaries on both sides of the Atlantic, Zorn is little known in the U.S. today.

Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America investigated how Zorn became an international artist who set the groundwork for modern art, revealed his rapidly developing style from 1890 to the early 1900s, and his variety of subjects. The exhibition was organized in five different segments, including “Zorn and Gardner,” “Society Portraits,” “In the City,” “Country Life,” and “Artist’s Studios.” Twenty-four paintings were featured together with twenty-two drawings, photographs, letters, and gifts that Anders Zorn gave Isabella Gardner in 1894.

Highlights includedIsabella Stewart Gardner in Venice (1894) and distinguished loans that have never been shown in America, such as Night Effect (1895), on loan from Gothenburg Museum of Art, Göteborg, Sweden, and The Ice Skater (1898), on loan from Zornmuseet, Mora, Sweden. Additionally, major paintings came together for the first time, including objects from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Art Institute, Chicago. The exhibition centered on strong holdings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, highlighting the central role of Gardner as a most influential patron of Anders Zorn in America.

You can see more works by Anders Zorn in the historic building. Please visit the Blue Room (1st floor) for oil portraits and the Short Gallery (2nd floor) for etchings.

Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America was the first exhibition to be curated and organized by Oliver Tostmann, William and Lia Poorvu Curator of the Collection, who joined the curatorial staff of the Isabella Gardner Museum in April 2011.

Premier Exhibition Sponsor: Bank of America
Support for the exhibition catalogue and related research was provided by the Chauncey and Marion D. McCormick Family Foundation. Additional support provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Richard C. von Hess Foundation, and The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation. The Museum receives operating support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Media Sponsor: Boston Globe Media.

A series of related public programs complemented the exhibition. The range of talks investigated topics such as Zorn in the context of other Nordic Artists of the 1890s and his relationship with Gardner.

Opening Events for Members
February 27, 11 am-4:30 pm | February 27, 6 pm
Members were invited to preview the exhibition the day before it opens to the public during a Members' Preview Day and Members' Opening Reception.

Lectures, General Admission
Zorngården: Anders Zorn's Artist Home
February 28, 2013 at 7 pm
Johan Cederlund, Director of the Zorn Museum

Anders Zorn: A Closer Look
March 11, 2013 at 2 pm
Exhibition curators and scholars took an in-depth look into Zorn's life and work.

Anders Zorn: Celebrated and Forgotten. A Reassessment.
March 14, 2013 at 7 pm
Oliver Tostmann, William and Lia Poorvu Curator of the Collection at the Gardner Museum

From the Seine to the Cosmos: Nordic Art in the 1890s
March 28, 2013 at 7 pm
Patricia G. Berman, Theodora L. and Stanley H. Feldberg Professor of Art at Wellesley College and Professor II at the University of Oslo, Norway

Anders Zorn: A Closer Look
April 4, 2013 at 6 pm
Exhibition curators and scholars took an in-depth look into Zorn's life and work.

In the Hub: Anders Zorn and Isabella Stewart Gardner in Boston
April 25, 2013 at 7 pm
Anne-Marie Eze, Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow at the Gardner Museum

"He Will Go Back to Sweden with a Heavy Purse": The Market for Zorn's Portraits in America
May 9, 2013 at 7 pm
Barbara Dayer Gallati, Curator Emerita, American Art at the Brooklyn Museum

A fully illustrated catalogue accompanied the exhibition, including 120 color images of artwork and essays from international scholars who examine Zorn’s life, work, and success.