Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner: A Book Talk With Author Natalie Dykstra
March 25, 2025
1:00–2:00 PM
Location: CMA & Online
Author Natalie Dykstra will discuss her recent book, Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner, a biography of the Boston art collector and museum founder.
A biographer relies on all kinds of evidence to reconstruct a life story: letters, diaries, financial and household documents, manuscripts, sketchbooks, photograph albums, and published material of all sorts. Even so, there are always gaps or silences in the record for a variety of reasons: the subject wanted to hide from history; the record was lost or destroyed; the evidence that remains is in some way illegible or resistant to reading. This resistant evidence is the subject of this talk, which asks what happens when a subject’s expressiveness is not with words either spoken or on the page, but with images or objects—or even with a collection. Can images or objects be as eloquent as words?
In-person attendance is free with advanced registration.
To join virtually, simply click on the provided Zoom link at the scheduled time of the event. No registration is required for virtual attendance.
A biographer relies on all kinds of evidence to reconstruct a life story: letters, diaries, financial and household documents, manuscripts, sketchbooks, photograph albums, and published material of all sorts. Even so, there are always gaps or silences in the record for a variety of reasons: the subject wanted to hide from history; the record was lost or destroyed; the evidence that remains is in some way illegible or resistant to reading. This resistant evidence is the subject of this talk, which asks what happens when a subject’s expressiveness is not with words either spoken or on the page, but with images or objects—or even with a collection. Can images or objects be as eloquent as words?
In-person attendance is free with advanced registration.
To join virtually, simply click on the provided Zoom link at the scheduled time of the event. No registration is required for virtual attendance.
