The first international loan exhibition and catalog in more than 25 years dedicated to one of our favorite artists, Anders Zorn (1860-1920), is about to open in Boston.
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will present Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America, the first international loan exhibition and catalogue dedicated to this Swedish artist in the United States in more than 25 years, slated to open February 28, 2013. The first historic exhibition in the Hostetter Gallery in the new Renzo Piano-designed extension of the museum will present new international scholarship about an artist who was considered among the most prolific and talented artists living around 1900. Although highly esteemed by his contemporaries on both sides of the Atlantic, Zorn is little known to the general public in the U.S. today.
“Night Effect,” by Anders Zorn, 1895
The exhibition will investigate Zorn’s achievement in a variety of areas, such as his rapidly developing style from around 1890 to the early 1900s and his variety of subjects. It will be organized in five different segments, including “Zorn and Gardner,” “Society Portraits,” “In the City,” “Country Life,” and “Artists’ Studios.” Twenty-four paintings are featured in the exhibition together with 22 drawings, photographs, and letters, as well as gifts that Anders Zorn gave Gardner in 1894.
“My Model and My Boat,” by Anders Zorn, 1894, etching. Collection Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA
Highlights include “Isabella Stewart Gardner in Venice” (1894) and distinguished loans that have never been shown in America such as “Night Effect” (1895), on loan from Gothenburg Museum of Art, Göteborg, Sweden. In addition, major paintings will come together for the first time including items from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Art Institute, Chicago. The exhibition will center on strong holdings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, highlighting the central role of Isabella Gardner as a patron of Zorn in America.
“Mrs. Walter Rathbone Bacon (Virginia Purdy),” by Anders Zorn, 1897, 67 1/4 x 42 1/2. Collection The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
A fully illustrated 200-page catalogue will accompany the exhibition, including 120 color images of artwork. It will include essays from international scholars who examine Zorn’s life, work, and success. A series of related public programs will complement the exhibition. For more information, visit www.gardnermuseum.org.
