Thomas E. Marr (Nova Scotia, 1849 - 1910, Boston)
Isabella Stewart Gardner in the Conservatory at Green Hill, Brookline, Massachusetts, 1900
Gelatin silver print, 18.6 x 24 cm (7 5/16 x 9 7/16 in.)
This black and white print shows Isabella Stewart Gardner tending her flowers in a conservatory. Mrs. Gardner is seen from the rear and is dressed in a long dark full-length dress and dark hat. The hat has a white brim and a veil that is tied in a bow at the back. She stands on the edge of the pot of a large fern so she can tend to her abundant azalea plants. Both sides of the print show white flowers and dense foliage. Above the plants to our left is a bronze female statue. The glass windowed walls of the conservatory stretch quite high at the back of the image.
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Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner was an avid horticulturalist and maintained extensive gardens at her residence in Brookline, Massachusetts called Green Hill. Her husband Jack inherited Green Hill from his parents in 1884, and Isabella transformed the landscape of 40 acres with gardens reflecting her travels. In this photograph, Isabella is in the property’s conservatory where she and the estate’s Head Gardener, Charles Montague Atkinson, grew plants like the azaleas seen here.