We ended up going to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum instead, since Julie had never been. It's Mom's favorite museum, and a wonderful place to see. Several months ago I went to visit with Greta, but there are always new things to discover every time you walk through. Isabella (quite a character and force of nature unto herself!) collected art and architectural features from all over the world, and built a house on the Fenway for the express purpose of showcasing her magnificent collections. She hosted lavish parties in the center of the house, an open garden, which can be viewed from any level of the house.
My favorite John Singer Sargent painting (El Jaleo, 1882) is wonderful to view up close:
In the midst of all of the beautiful works, there are grim reminders of the museum's recent tragedy: empty frames scattered throughout the house. In 1990, the largest American art theft was launched, in which thieves disguised as Boston police officers broke into the museum in the night and stole some of the most valuable works, including some Rembrandts. A recent documentary called Stolen in about the hunt for the culprits - rumors of Boston mafia involvement still abound, and a $5 million reward from the FBI is still active.
We had a fun time at the museum, then went to Friday's for lunch, and walked along Huntington Avenue where we took some photographs of the plaque for Mom's cousin James Gibbons, who was killed in a Boston fire. We then took a brief tour of the campus, as Mom is interested in applying and is coming up again next week for a graduate program open house at Northeastern.
