Thomas E. Marr and Son - Music Room, North Wall, Fenway Court, 1914

Thomas E. Marr and Son (active Boston, 1910-1942)

Music Room, North Wall, Fenway Court, 1914

Gelatin silver print, 19.84 x 24.61 cm (7 13/16 x 9 11/16 in.)

Commentary

Isabella Stewart Gardner’s museum originally featured a two-story concert hall known as the Music Room. Gardner hosted a range of public and private performances within the Music Room for over a decade. When her collection had grown beyond what the galleries could hold, she demolished the Music Room in order to expand exhibition space creating the Spanish Cloister, Chinese Loggia, and Tapestry Room. Before it was taken down, she asked the firm of Thomas E. Marr and Son—who had been documenting the spaces of her museum from their inception—to photograph the room for posterity.