Off the Wall: Gardner and Her Masterpieces

This once-in-a-lifetime exhibition—prompted by ongoing preservation and maintenance of her historic “palazzo” on the Fenway in Boston—provides visitors with direct access to extraordinary works by artists such as Botticelli, Raphael, and Rembrandt, among others. Off the Wall: Gardner and Her Masterpieces features twenty-five select highlights from the Museum’s incomparable fine art collection, as well as forty rarely-seen items from the institutional archives. 

Placing a select group of paintings and drawings in our contemporary exhibition space, seen up close and lit to best advantage, allows us to reconsider the museum’s rich holdings and to think anew about how works from the Renaissance to the Rococo speak to us today.

A selection from the archives focuses on Gardner herself—traveler, collector of fine art, and a patron of the arts and letters. When taken together, both the masterpieces and the archival material on display allow us to better understand Gardner’s aspirations and her astonishing achievements.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website