American
Charles Martin Loeffler at the Piano, about 1900
Gelatin silver print, 8.9 x 8.9 cm (3 1/2 x 3 1/2 in.)
This black and white photograph shows Charles Martin Loeffler in a dark suit with a white collared shirt and bow tie seated at a piano facing to the viewer's left. He is balding, with dark hair on the back of his head and a goatee on his chin showing in profile while he plays the keyboard. At this angle, the reflection of his hands along the keys is visible on the piano’s dark fall board. To the left of the sheet music, on the piano sits a bird-shaped object, while to the right of the sheet music, on the keys sits a metal lamp. Behind Charles Martin Loeffler, half in the frame of the photograph is an empty wooden chair. The image has a black border with some light creasing and tearing on the top corners. The sepia-colored back of the photograph has writing on the left corners and top right side denoting numbers and Loeffler’s name.
Yellow Room
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner collected photographs of internationally celebrated performers as well as her musician friends who were less famous. She arranged these photographs informally around her homes in Boston and Brookline, and when she built her museum she placed them in cases throughout the galleries. This photograph of composer-violinist Charles Martin Loeffler shows him seated before one of the tools of his trade. Gardner provided handsomely for his primary musical talent, giving him a Stradivarius violin she acquired in 1895.