You know that spring has arrived in Boston when nasturtiums festoon the courtyard at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on the Fenway. The vines, measuring between 15 and 20 feet long, take most of the rest of the year to grow to such extravagant lengths, but Mrs. Gardner would wish for no less.
The vivid orange-red nasturtiums appealed strongly to the museum's founder who introduced the annual display in the spring of 1903, during Easter weekend. The bright color is complemented by the villa's pale pink stucco walls - no accident as Gardner rejected yellow nasturtiums as an unaesthetic choice. During her lifetime, Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924) won awards for her gardening and was a p
proponent of integrating art and beauty with daily life. 
It may be that the nasturtium became a popular motif with turn of the century artists because of its resemblance to the butterfly (see the Rozenburg-Holland plate at left), another popular decorative symbol at the time.
The Nasturtium was introduced to Europe from its native Peru by Spanish conquistadors. It is an edible flower that has a peppery taste, similar to watercress, and it is sometimes used in place of capers.
1. Photograph of Courtyard At Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum-Boston, Providence Journal.
2. Walter J. Phillips - Nasturtiums, 1928, Sharecom.ca.
3. Rozenburg (Holland) Nasturtium Plate, late 19th century, Musee de Boulogne-sur-Mer.
4. Tiffany Studio, possibly Clara Pierce Wolcott Driscoll - Nasturtium Lamp , c. 1899, Boca Raton museum of Art-Florida.
7 comments:
It is way way way too cold in Toronto for nasturiums in April. I thought Toronto and Boston were in the same basic climate.
It's a July flower here. I suppose the museum starts them inside, but I would think that Boston would get a couple of cold snaps before May.
Bye the way, what a lovely building it is. I was just on the website.
I have only visited Toronto, but I guess the difference would be that Boston is on the ocean. The water temperature moderates the effects of major snow storms and the remains melt more quickly than they do further inland, but then there are hurricanes in the warm weather. Also, the Gardner courtyard has a glass roof over it, which is hard to see in photographs. I have a friend from Peru who reminded me of another interesting tidbit. Although Peru is on the west coast of South America, it is in the Eastern time zone as we are because Central America swings to the east, rather than heading straight south.
Where can I get a print of the nasturtiums in the vase? I love it!
Leslie, all the woodblock prints by Walter J. Phillips are online at the Canadian website www.sharecom.ca/phillips/. You may be able to get information there on odering a copy. Good luck and thanks for visiting.
I'm not sure why, but today I chose to take a look at a print that my husband and I have hanging in our office (which we got from his grandmothers house about three years ago). It's a signed piece and the only thing I could make out was "nasturtium 18/200" and what I thought was the name "phillips"--it's in pencil and is rather faded. I thought there was a slim chance that I'd find anything but a google search later and there is the print on this post! I'm amazed! I'm off now to check out the Walter J. Phillips site--I'm so excited! Thanks!
Hello, B C. What an exciting discovery for you - and such a fine work. I'll be curious to know how you like Phillips's other work. Happy searching.
Post a Comment