Anders Zorn (Mora, 1860 - 1920, Mora)
Isabella Stewart Gardner in Venice, 1894
Oil on canvas , 91 x 66 cm (35 13/16 x 26 in.)
This vertical oil painting depicts Isabella Stewart Gardner standing in a doorway with her arms outstretched. She is depicted in a floor-length short-sleeved white dress flowing almost like a nightgown. The dress is tightened at the waist and has ruffles around her chest partially covering her shoulders. Her hair is brown and seems to be pulled back. She is looking at you, but her facial features are not well defined. You can barely tell that her mouth is open. She is wearing a strand of long pearl beads that is doubled around her neck twice and falls down to the line of her hips. There is a gold pendant at the center of the beads. One of her feet can be seen poking out from beneath the dress. Her right leg is bent at the knee and protruding through the dress shows that she is stepping forward. Gardner’s arms are raised to shoulder height and stretched wide, her fingertips touching the brown doors on either side of her. Behind her is dark blue and a bright white stain appears on our left, depicting light. To our right behind Gardner, you can partially see a wooden balustrade. The background is reminiscent of a balcony at night, and Gardner is stepping inside. Before her is a dark green floor that looks like a carpet. You can barely see the edges of the brown floor along the corners of the painting. In the foreground to our right, there are several orange strokes that seem to depict a flower. Along the left edge reads in black paint: Zorn, Venezia, 1894”.
Short Gallery
Commentary
This lively portrait of Isabella Gardner was painted by one of her many artist friends, Anders Zorn. It shows her at the Palazzo Barbaro in Venice, where the Zorns and the Gardners spent time together in the fall of 1894. According to Jack Gardner’s diary, on the evening of October 20 his wife went out on the balcony to see a display of fireworks. Coming back into the room filled with guests, she threw open the glass doors and said, “Come out—all of you. This is too beautiful to miss.” The picture is all about light—the artificial light inside the room and the fireworks outside. Isabella Gardner herself, wearing her trademark long string of pearls, seems to glow. Gardner conveniently installed a portrait of her husband Jack nearby, making it easy to draw comparisons (style, personality, etc.) between the two.