Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum A Companion Guide and History Book

I had the opportunity to visit the Isaballa Stewart Gardner Museum recently and I got this book while I was there. The museum is a wonderful collection of art in an equally wonderful building/setting. We took a tour of the museum and I look back at that as essential for a guy like me to have art and its surroundings explained. Not only the beauty and technical parts of art are explained, but why they are in this certain room, and how the light is allowed in the room and at what angle it hits the art and why. All these bits of info help one appreciate the art more. The book follows through the whole museum and gives the history of the beginnings and its continued collection of the art. The only problem with the book is that the art is difficult to see in the book because it is so downsized to fit in the pages. I found though that to more fully appreciate the art, which is the center of the museum, a person has to visit the museum, take a tour, and read about it if possible. There could be no end. You could read more about the art and the founder of the museum as well. The history of Ms. Gardner herself is fascinating. You could read about the artists and their art. This is a stretch, you could work at or volunteer to work at the museum as well. All these things would bring you to a greater understanding of the whole package. Obviously only a few people could do all these things. I only say these things because each step or level you go to, would bring you a greater appreciation of the art. I think the greater appreciation would be worth the motions you went through to achieve it. This was a first time thing for me. Before, if I went to a museum, I never got past the "Oh wow, look at that, that's a famous one huh?" This book took me further into knowing what I was looking at and enjoying it more, even than the tour we took. And the tour was great. The book made that better.