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Isabella Stewart Gardner’s museum, with its plain exterior enfolding an astonishing four-story Italian palazzo, rose from Boston’s Fens at the turn of the twentieth century. Its treasures encompassed not only masterwork paintings but tapestries, rare books, prints, porcelains, and fine furniture.An extraordinary achievement of storytelling and scholarship, Chasing Beauty illuminates the fascinating ways the museum and its holdings can be seen as a kind of memoir, dazzling and haunting, created with objects instead of words and displayed per Isabella’s wishes in the exact placements she initially curated.
About the Author:
Natalie grew up in the Midwest, first near the shores of Lake Michigan, then in a suburb west of Chicago. She holds an undergraduate degree in Classics and pursued her passion for American Studies with graduate degrees from the University of Wyoming and the University of Kansas. Natalie’s dedication to her research has earned her prestigious accolades, including a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for her groundbreaking work on Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life. She has also received grants from esteemed institutions such as the Schlesinger Library and the Massachusetts Historical Society, where she was elected an honorary fellow in 2011.
In 2018, Natalie was awarded the highly coveted Public Scholar Award by the National Endowment for the Humanities in support of her latest book, Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner. This remarkable project was further recognized by the Biographers International Organization (BIO) through the inaugural 2018 Robert and Ina Caro Fellowship.
Natalie’s commitment to the field of biography extends beyond her writing. She has served as a board member of BIO since 2020, contributing her expertise and passion to the organization. Additionally, Natalie is an emerita professor of English and senior research professor at Hope College, where she dedicated twenty years to teaching writing, literature, and the arts. She currently resides in Waltham, Massachusetts, with her husband.
Planning to purchase your own copy?
Our friends at the Water Street Bookstore in Exeter have kindly offered anyone who mentions the event in their store a 20% off discount on their copy of Chasing Beauty. A bookseller will also attend the October 2 event if you would like to buy a copy during the event. Thank you, Water Street Bookstore!
Sponsored by the Friends of NHPL | Registration is not required.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
239 Atlantic Ave, North Hampton, NH, United States, New Hampshire 03862
