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Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

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 Boston, 02115

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The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is the museum one collector built to share her collection, opened to the public in 1903 under the name Fenway Court. Construction ran from 1899 to 1901, and Isabella Stewart Gardner then spent two years installing paintings, sculpture, textiles and furniture room by room. Her will asked that no permanent changes be made to the displays, so the galleries still stand as she arranged them, without conventional labels, around a glass-roofed courtyard garden that flowers all year.

It suits visitors who want art at close range rather than a survey, and anyone drawn by the story of the 1990 theft, whose empty frames still hang. The museum stands on Evans Way in the Fenway, a four-minute walk from the Longwood Medical Area stop on the Green Line E branch by the museum's own reckoning, or 12 minutes from Ruggles on the Orange Line. Admission is by timed ticket, and popular entry times sell out, so booking ahead matters more here than at most Boston museums.

Isabella and her collection

Born in New York in 1840, Isabella married John "Jack" Gardner of Boston in 1860 and settled in the Back Bay. After the death of their only child, the couple traveled widely in Europe and Asia, and Isabella took classes at Harvard, where she met Bernard Berenson. From the 1890s he advised her as she assembled a collection now of more than 15,000 objects, from Italian Renaissance paintings to textiles, Chinese sculpture and 19th-century French painting. John Singer Sargent's 1888 portrait of her hangs in the Gothic Room, and Anders Zorn painted her in Venice in 1894.

The Courtyard

Isabella loved gardening, and the Courtyard at the heart of the building changes through ten seasonal displays a year, from hanging nasturtiums in April to chrysanthemums from September to November. Most of the plants are grown at the museum's offsite greenhouses and trucked in on weekly and seasonal rotations.

The empty frames

In the early hours of March 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers talked their way inside and took 13 works, including Rembrandt's Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Vermeer's The Concert and Manet's Chez Tortoni. The case remains unsolved and under active investigation with the FBI. Because Isabella's will fixed the displays, the empty frames stay in place, and the museum offers an audio walk that retraces the thieves' route.

The New Wing

Renzo Piano's New Wing holds the visitor amenities, learning spaces, a performance hall and the special exhibition gallery, and it was designed to be in conversation with the gardens. Your ticket covers every special exhibition, though some events are ticketed separately.

Café G

Café G is the museum's glass-enclosed restaurant, also by Renzo Piano, looking over the gardens. Chef Peter Crowley cooks seasonal, local and organic dishes, some inspired by the collection, with beer and wine. It opens Wednesday through Monday, takes walk-ins only, and needs a museum ticket or a hand stamp from the lobby for dining.

Sources: Gardner Museum visitor information, Meet Isabella, the Courtyard, the theft, tours, directions and parking, accessibility, Café G. Checked September 30, 2026.

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Company Name
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Phone Number
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Call: +1 617-566-1401
Location
25 Evans Way
Boston, 02115
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About Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Quick answer: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is a museum at 25 Evans Way, Boston, MA 02115. Isabella Stewart Gardner's museum, opened in 1903 as Fenway Court: a flowering courtyard, rooms kept as she arranged them, and the empty frames of 1990.

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The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is the museum one collector built to share her collection, opened to the public in 1903 under the name Fenway Court. Construction ran from 1899 to 1901, and Isabella Stewart Gardner then spent two years installing paintings, sculpture, textiles and furniture room by room. Her will asked that no permanent changes be made to the displays, so the galleries still stand as she arranged them, without conventional labels, around a glass-roofed courtyard garden that flowers all year.

It suits visitors who want art at close range rather than a survey, and anyone drawn by the story of the 1990 theft, whose empty frames still hang. The museum stands on Evans Way in the Fenway, a four-minute walk from the Longwood Medical Area stop on the Green Line E branch by the museum's own reckoning, or 12 minutes from Ruggles on the Orange Line. Admission is by timed ticket, and popular entry times sell out, so booking ahead matters more here than at most Boston museums.

Isabella and her collection

Born in New York in 1840, Isabella married John "Jack" Gardner of Boston in 1860 and settled in the Back Bay. After the death of their only child, the couple traveled widely in Europe and Asia, and Isabella took classes at Harvard, where she met Bernard Berenson. From the 1890s he advised her as she assembled a collection now of more than 15,000 objects, from Italian Renaissance paintings to textiles, Chinese sculpture and 19th-century French painting. John Singer Sargent's 1888 portrait of her hangs in the Gothic Room, and Anders Zorn painted her in Venice in 1894.

The Courtyard

Isabella loved gardening, and the Courtyard at the heart of the building changes through ten seasonal displays a year, from hanging nasturtiums in April to chrysanthemums from September to November. Most of the plants are grown at the museum's offsite greenhouses and trucked in on weekly and seasonal rotations.

The empty frames

In the early hours of March 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers talked their way inside and took 13 works, including Rembrandt's Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Vermeer's The Concert and Manet's Chez Tortoni. The case remains unsolved and under active investigation with the FBI. Because Isabella's will fixed the displays, the empty frames stay in place, and the museum offers an audio walk that retraces the thieves' route.

The New Wing

Renzo Piano's New Wing holds the visitor amenities, learning spaces, a performance hall and the special exhibition gallery, and it was designed to be in conversation with the gardens. Your ticket covers every special exhibition, though some events are ticketed separately.

Café G

Café G is the museum's glass-enclosed restaurant, also by Renzo Piano, looking over the gardens. Chef Peter Crowley cooks seasonal, local and organic dishes, some inspired by the collection, with beer and wine. It opens Wednesday through Monday, takes walk-ins only, and needs a museum ticket or a hand stamp from the lobby for dining.

Sources: Gardner Museum visitor information, Meet Isabella, the Courtyard, the theft, tours, directions and parking, accessibility, Café G. Checked September 30, 2026.

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Phone: +1 617-566-1401

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What are the Gardner Museum's opening hours?+
Monday, Wednesday and Friday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Tuesday. It also closes on New Year's Day, Patriots' Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, and at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
Q. How much are tickets?+
Adults $25, seniors 65 and up $22, students with current ID $15. Children 17 and under and members enter free. Tickets include all special exhibitions.
Q. When is the Gardner Museum free?+
Every Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m., with tickets released two days before. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Juneteenth and Indigenous Peoples' Day are free for all, with tickets available two weeks ahead. US military and up to four family members get in free, and anyone named Isabella enters free for life with a reservation.
Q. Do I need to book in advance?+
It is strongly recommended. Admission is by timed entry, popular times sell out quickly, and tickets may not be available at the door.
Q. Are there guided tours?+
Free 30-minute public tours with a Museum Teacher run most weekdays. They cannot be booked ahead; sign up at the Ticketing Desk when you arrive, and come early because spaces are limited. Private tours can be requested in advance.
Q. How do I get there, and is there parking?+
Take the Green Line E to Longwood Medical Area, about a four-minute walk, or the Orange Line to Ruggles, about 12 minutes; buses 8, 19, 39, 47, 85 and CT3 also serve the area. The museum has no parking lot of its own. Discounted parking is available on levels P1 to P3 of the Simmons School of Management Garage at 86 Avenue Louis Pasteur with a validated ticket, and the Museum of Fine Arts lots on Museum Road are within walking distance.
Q. What can I bring into the galleries?+
Bags no larger than 12 by 12 by 3 inches, your own headphones for the audio guide, front-facing baby carriers and strollers. Other bags, backpacks, food and water bottles go to the coat check or self-serve lockers, and no food or drink, including water, is allowed in the galleries.
Q. Can I take photos?+
Non-flash photos and video for personal use are welcome, but tripods, selfie sticks and posed photo shoots are not allowed. Sketching is permitted in pencil only, in notebooks up to 11 by 14 inches.
Q. Is the museum accessible?+
Both the historic Palace and the New Wing have elevators to all public floors, with a lift in the Palace for the two steps to its elevator. The historic galleries have narrow doorways, varied flooring and low light, and fewer benches on the upper floors. Wheelchairs, rollators and canes are lent free at the Admissions desk, and there are two accessible parking spaces in front of the museum.

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