Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — Attraction in Boston

While the courtyard is gorgeous, I was incredibly disappointed with several aspects of displays in The Palace. *First: information about the pieces is available ONLY by scanning QR codes- one for each room. There is NO printed info or signage with very few exceptions. Not everyone has smartphones so this format excludes many visitors. *Second: there is ONE QR CODE sign mounted per room, and it's hard to find, especially if people are around it. If the museum is going to standardize on this approach, make the code easy for guests to find!! I didn't even see a QR code for the Courtyard! *Third: the page that opens from the QR code for a given room has graphics showing each wall (North, South, etc) with displays labeled. The graphic was small and had tiny numbers. The user needs to zoom in to read the number, then zoom out and scroll down the page (30+ items in some rooms) to read the info, then back up to the graphic. This may be fine on a laptop but is clunky and frustrating on a phone. I didn't want to be glued to a phone screen and squinting to find info. For older (50!) guests like me, this also meant constantly putting reading glasses on, taking off, putting on, taking off, etc. *Finally: the rooms are incredibly dark. I understand the conservation need for this but it's far more extreme than other museums. The darkness prevents the visitor from seeing the art. It's really noticeable in three areas: 1-the tiles in the Spanish Cloister (the colors [vivid blue, red, gold, green!!!] - which is what I was most looking forward to - are muted to the point of looking like shades of brown), 2-the Dutch Room (the art being restored on the ceiling - for which an explanatory sign IS available, yay!!- is not visible because the room is so dark, and 3- the tapestries where, again, detail and color aren't visible. Because guests are forced to use a phone to get info, eyes must constantly re-adjust from lit screen to dark room. Together, these things kept me from enjoying the art. I never felt old until visiting this museum- again, I'm only 50!!! I was so frustrated by the inability to access information or see the work that we left The Palace after ~45 minutes. It's a shame because I would have liked to know more about many paintings. It made me feel like I didn't belong, or that the art was only for people with perfect vision or for whom their cell phone is connected directly to their brain. The Hostetter Gallery on the other hand, was great! Signage and lighting allowed us to actually see and enjoy the work. Whoever laid that gallery out considered inclusion of all guests- thank you! I'm sad to say that I feel it was a waste of the admission fee. Perhaps I should have known more about restrictions on how info was not presented in person, before I bought tickets? What an incredible shame. One major kudo: the painting "El Jaleo" in the Spanish Cloister is displayed wonderfully and lit in an incredibly gorgeous way!! (And had a sign!!!) Staff were very friendly. The design and architecture of the main...

TL;DR - Quirkiness! Art! Gardens! Theft! ISGM has it all, and then some.

If you love art, if you love the avant-garde, if you love Italian Palaces, if you love beautifully-appointed gardens, if you love exploring the mind of a forward-thinking and adventurous woman - you have found the place in Boston you need to be.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is so much more than an art gallery. It is bursting at the seams with history, memories, artifacts, events, and wonderful gardens. In every corner, on every wall, in every case there is something unique and interesting that was hand picked by Gardner to be there. The pieces are as eclectic as they are unique.

The art collection has a a great mixture of works from well-known masters (like Raphael, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Titian, Matisse, Botticelli, Manet, and Degas), American artists (like John Singer Sargent, Louis Kronberg, James McNeill Whistler, and John La Farge), and other lesser-known (but terrific) artists from around the globe.

There are also many items like books, architectural elements, instruments, coins, jewelry, ceremonials, vessels, costumes, textiles, and so on and so on. In addition, there are thousands of pieces of correspondence between Gardner and artists, actors, statesmen, and authors (to name a few). Everywhere you look there is something interesting- even if you’ve been several times before.

The concerts and special exhibitions are often quite good, and are always thoughtfully curated. There is a real attempt to stay relevant and use art as a way to initiate conversations about the human experience.

And the theft! The robbery by two men dressed as police officers on St. Patrick’s day 1990 remains a fascinating story, especially as none of the art has been recovered. The empty frames are still on the walls.

Visit once, visit often, but visit as soon as you can. You...

This museum is amazing. The art collection is massive and impressive. I went on a weekend in the fall and the museum was absolutely packed of course, but I enjoyed it anyway. I did the walking tour by scanning the code displayed in each room. It was pretty thorough and gave me a really good idea of what not to miss in each room. I could move at my own pace which I really enjoyed. Bring your headphones or earbuds to take advantage of this great addition to the museum.

I make the trip to see everything again about once every 3-4 years. The red room (I think maybe it was the Raphael Room) had just been redone and the walls, art and everything in between was bright and perfect. The rest of the museum needs a bit of work to bring it back to its original splendor (which they are working on. I believe the Dutch Room where a few pieces the artwork was stolen and only frames remain on the walls), but not a drawback. I can't imagine the amount of work, and money that takes to complete. This is a fantastic place to visit, but it's not really a great place for kids. The interior, with the exception of the courtyard (which you cannot enter), is dark, and is probably better for teens on up instead of little ones who would probably get bored easily. I only gave the visit 4 stars becuase the museum needs some work. Many things haven't been updated in a really long time which again, they are working on. I'll be back to visit once more work has been completed.

All in all, it was a really nice trip. Visit your local library for reduced tickets to the museum. That's how I visited this time and it was really worth it! I travel from So. NH so I also park and ride in and then T the rest of the way so I don't have the additional cost of parking and the hassle of driving in the city. Ick! Enjoy your visit though...well worth it to see this amazing museum so...