To Inspire, Transform & Heal

Linda Wiggen Kraft
Creativity for the Soul

The Winner of the Boston Marathon Weekend – Flowers

The Winners Were Flowers

I visited family in Boston the weekend of the recent marathon. Of course the marathon was amazing, but the highlight of the weekend for me was the flower display of 20 feet long nasturtiums at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Art Museum.

 

Venetian Palace

The building is modeled after palaces in Venice and includes many actual pieces of these palaces. Yes, this art museum houses Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Botticelli, John Singer Sargent, Manet just to name a few of the artists. But the inner courtyard garden with the once-a-year hanging nasturtiums made this art and flower lover swoon.

Isabella herself started this tradition in 1904. She lived until 1924, dying at the age of 84. The nasturtiums are displayed during Easter time and the month of April while they are blooming their bright orange color. This narrow painting (17 11/16″ x 7 7/8″) of the hanging nasturtiums by American artist Arthur Pope was done in 1919. Titled “Nasturtiums at Fenway Court”.

 

Ten Months to Grow Twenty Feet

These nasturtium vines take 10 months to grow their long stems. They are grown in the museum’s greenhouse offsite, moved and displayed in April hanging from the third-floor arched openings overlooking the inner garden courtyard below.

 

 

 

Art As It Was in Her Time

It’s lovely to view both the art and the flowers from inside the galleries.  The vast collection of art here is stunning. Isabella lead an interesting life and was a major collector in her time. This museum is unique in that all the paintings and art are displayed exactly as they were when Isabella lived. Also none of the art has labels identifying the artist or the name of the art. There are QR codes in each room that shares this info on smart phones.

 

 

Each plant grows in its somewhat small terra cotta pot and flows down twenty feet or more  into the courtyard garden below.

 

 

Garden Inspiration

I love this art museum for both the amazing art, but also the amazing courtyard garden. The palette of orange nasturtiums with blue and white flowers below is stunning. An inspiration for summer gardens for sure.

 

And Isabella was a woman after my heart. She loved her garden. The words below are hers, about her garden. Such an inspiration.

 

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