#isabella stewart gardner museum

[marzipanandminutiae]

can "activists" please stop trying to fuck with the empty frames at the Gardner museum. this is the second time the museum has had to close early to keep that from happening

like. first of all, the art museum climate protests that have happened so far piss me off despite the fact that I agree with their overall goals, because the messages in interviews all boil down to "how DARE you VALUE ART when BAD THINGS ARE HAPPENING, ordinary museum-goer?!" but at least they've taken pains to not actually damage anything important (throwing soup on modern, sealed cases or glass barriers instead of the art itself, etc.)

the frames at the Gardner? are art in their own right. they are mostly very old and made by often-unacknowledged craftsmen who were incredibly talented. they're not the same as a modern barrier. AND they're there as a reminder of a time when some jerks stole art from the public so rich assholes could wall it up in private collections so only they got to enjoy it

like go puncture a CEO's tires or something that actually reaches the people responsible for this mess instead of ordinary humans (who probably already agree with you!) just trying to do the very Human Thing of appreciating art

EDIT: I double-checked, and last time their Thing was "why are people still talking about the Gardner heist, but NOBODY is talking about biodiversity loss?!?!?!"

which is just.

they are? just not usually in the same breath as an unsolved art theft case?

[lionofchaeronea]

Seated Scribe, variously attributed to Gentile Bellini or Costanzo da Ferrara, 1479-81

[ca-d]

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 🖤

[the-cricket-chirps]

John Singer Sargent, Portrait of Madame X, 1884

John Singer Sargent, Isabella Stewart Gardner, 1888

[hyperiionvii]

an illustration for class- the assignment was to put an animal somewhere recognizable in boston. so here's an ostrich at the isabella stewart gardner.

(plus process below)

[carothehotmess]

Fun fact about the Cobra Kai season 5 and the Rembrandt painting joke at the end:

Rembrandt famously only ever painted one seascape. It was called Storm on the Sea of Galilee and, until 1990, it hung on the wall of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.

However, on March 18, 1990, two thieves broke into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and stole 13 pieces of art. The paintings they stole included the above mentioned Rembrandt, a Vermeer (believed to be the most valuable unrecovered piece of art in the world), as well as some art by Degas and Manet, among others.

The thieves were never caught, and to this day, the art has never been found. There was strong belief that the heist was connected with one or another criminal organizations in the Boston area, but there has never been definitive evidence of the sort.

So how does this relate to Cobra Kai? Well at the end of the last episode of season 5, Mike Barnes opens the door to the limo to reveal a painting laying inside that he took from Silver’s house, and says that he thinks a Rembrandt might be worth as much as a furniture store.

The painting he stole from Terry Silver? It looks a lot like Storm on the Sea of Galilee.

So not only is Terry Silver a bad guy for training kids to be assholes and paying off referees to cheat at children’s sports competitions and just generally being a dick, but he is also at the very least involved in the purchase of stolen art, not to mention his potential involvement with Boston organized crime.

[victusinveritas]

John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925)

"El Jaleo," 1882

Oil on canvas

232 x 348 cm

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

[pagansphinx]

John Singer Sargent (American/British, 1856-1925) • Isabella Stewart Gardner • 1888 • Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, Massachusetts

Isabella Stewart Gardner • 1888

Isabella Stewart Gardner was a philanthropist and art collector. Upon receiving a hefty inheritance, she and her husband Jack founded the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, which was built to resemble a Venetian villa. The building included apartments in which the couple would live and entertain.

Gallery view of Sargent's portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner • Gardner Museum

The Stewart museum was the site of the greatest unsolved art heists in history; and also the costliest. In 1990, two men dressed as policemen approached the entrance to the museum. The museum was closed to the public at the time and, ignoring protocol, a security guard allowed the men in. Two security officers were tied up and gagged in the basement while the thieves were at work cutting canvases out of their frames and grabbing priceless art objects that to this day, have not been located. It is estimated that the total value of the stolen artworks is $600 million dollars.

Rembrandt's The Storm on the Sea of Galilee • 1633

Among the paintings stolen were Rembrandt's The Storm on the Sea of Galilee and Man and Woman in Black. Johannes Vermeer's The Concert, and Manet's Chez Tortoni. A Chinese-Gu vase from 12th century BCE and several drawings were also taken.

Vermeer's The Concert • c. 1664

As of 2015, art experts believe that The Concert is the single most valuable artwork ever stolen, valued at over $250 million dollars.

The empty frames of the missing paintings remain on the walls of the museum. There have been suspects, including Boston mobsters and, interestingly, The Irish Republican Army, though not enough evidence or leads were established to prosecute the culprits and locate the artworks.

Sources:

Isabella Gardner Museum website

Business Insider magazine

Wikipedia; The Storm on the Sea of Galilee

Wikipedia; The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist

Smithsonian Magazine; What to Know about the Gardner Museum heist

[taf-art]

When the Thing with Features Turned Red (After Tintoretto) (2021-22). Raqib Shaw.

[pignation]

el jaleo

[handheldheaven]

[charmingpplincardigans]

One day, a woman I don't know is going to strike up a half hour conversation with me in a museum about things I care about deeply and she's NOT GOING TO BE STRAIGHT. 😫

Anyway, made a friend at the Gardner. Had an otherwise excellent time with people who are already my friends.

[6schoolsin6years]

Some girls obsess over bands and silly little guys

I obsess over horrific 34 year old cold cases

[shmebulock2000]

A mini comic I made about Isabella Stewart Gardner.

She's having a little conversation with John Singer Sargent about her new museum

[empirearchives]

This is the flag of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard the robbers at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum tried to steal in 1990 but were unsuccessful.

The robbers were successful at stealing the flag’s eagle finial and it remains lost to this day. There is a $100,000 reward for its return.

(Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston)

[homerstroystory]

today (3/18/2023) marks 33 years since the heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

in 1990, thirteen works of art were stolen from the museum when two men impersonating police officers were allowed into the museum to respond to a nonexistent disturbance. two security guards at the museum were bound and left in the basement of the museum. over an hour later (81 minutes) the two thieves left the museum with the 13 works (x). since the theft, the Museum has continued to work with the FBI and the and the Attorney General to recover these works and is currently offering up to $10.1 million in rewards for information leading to the return of the stolen works (x).

among the stolen works are several pieces by Rembrandt van Rijn, including his only known seascape, as well as numerous works by Edgar Degas. additionally, an ancient Chinese vessel dating from the 12th century BCE and a Napoleonic standard were taken.

The stolen works include:

The Concert (1663-66) by Johannes Vermeer

Chez Tortoni (c. 1875) by Édouard Manet

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (c. 1663) by Rembrandt van Rijn

Landscape with an Obelisk (1638) by Govaert Flinck

Leaving the Paddock (La Sortie du Pesage) (c. 19th century) by Edgar Degas

Study for the Programme de la soirée artistique du 15 juin 1884 (Galerie Ponsin) (1884) by Edgar Degas

Study for the Programme de la soirée artistique du 15 juin 1884 (Galerie Ponsin) (1884) by Edgar Degas

Ancient Chinese Gu, bronze, c. 12th century BCE

Eagle Finial: Insignia of the First Regiment of Grenadiers of Foot of Napoleon's Imperial Guard (1813-14) by Pierre-Philippe Thomire

Procession on a Road near Florence (Cortège sur une route aux environs de Florence) (1857-60) by Edgar Degas

Three Mounted Jockeys (Jockey à cheval) (c. 1885-88) by Edgar Degas

A Lady and Gentleman in Black (1633) by Rembrandt van Rijn

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633) by Rembrandt van Rijn