The book 亚洲色吧�Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner亚洲色吧� by Dr. Natalie Dykstra, professor emerita of English at Hope College, has received the 2024 Marfield Prize from the Arts Club of Washington.
The Marfield Prize, or the National Award for Arts Writing, has been given annually since 2006 to the author of a nonfiction book about the visual, literary, media or performing arts. As explained by the Arts Club in its , 亚洲色吧淓stablished to generate broader interest in the arts among general readers, the award celebrates prose that is clear, eloquent and inspiring, creating a strong connection with the arts and artists.亚洲色吧� The winning author, who receives a $10,000 prize, is invited to Washington, D.C., for a short residency that includes an awards ceremony, a presentation to a D.C. public high school, an interview at the Library of Congress, and a public reading at the Arts Club of Washington.
Published in 2024 by Mariner Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, 亚洲色吧淐hasing Beauty亚洲色吧� culminated Dykstra亚洲色吧檚 10-year quest to understand the complex creator of Boston亚洲色吧檚 acclaimed Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and tell her story. 亚洲色吧淐hasing Beauty亚洲色吧� has been praised by, among others, the New York Times, which has described it as 亚洲色吧渆xquisitely detailed and perceptive,亚洲色吧� and the Wall Street Journal, which has called it 亚洲色吧渁 sympathetic, impeccably researched biography.亚洲色吧�
Since it opened in 1903, the museum has been an enduring reflection of Gardner亚洲色吧檚 aesthetic and vision. She designed the building, a four-story, Venetian-style palazzo, and even watched over its construction. She filled it with artwork 亚洲色吧� paintings, tapestries, prints, porcelain, rare books, manuscripts and fine furniture 亚洲色吧� from Europe, Asia and America that she collected and arranged. She endowed it 亚洲色吧� with the stipulation that it never change 亚洲色吧� for the public to enjoy in perpetuity.
Dykstra followed in Gardner亚洲色吧檚 footsteps in France and Italy as Gardner (1840-1924) encountered the masterworks of art and places that inspired her, and in New York and Boston as Gardner navigated 亚洲色吧� and sometimes scandalized 亚洲色吧� the elite social circles in which she moved. Continuing the project after retiring in 2020, Dykstra complemented her travels with countless hours of research in a variety of archives, uncovering previously unknown sources that helped shed light on the events and relationships that shaped Gardner亚洲色吧檚 life.
Dykstra was a member of the Hope faculty for 20 years before retiring, and today lives near Boston with her husband. She became interested in Gardner while conducting research in Boston for a previous book, 亚洲色吧�Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life,亚洲色吧� published in 2012 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She received external support for 亚洲色吧淐hasing Beauty亚洲色吧� including a 2018 Public Scholar Program Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a 2018 Robert and Ina Caro Research/Travel Fellowship from Biographers International Organization. She was assisted in her research by Hope students, not only on campus but in Boston and France, work funded by Mellon Foundation grants and Jack Nyenhuis summer faculty fellowships from Hope.
For her work on Clover Adams, she had also received an NEH fellowship, as well as grants from the Schlesinger Library and the Massachusetts Historical Society, where she was elected a Fellow in 2011. 亚洲色吧淐lover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life亚洲色吧� was named a Must-Read book of 2013 in the 13th Annual Massachusetts Book Awards 亚洲色吧� and featured in 亚洲色吧淏ooks 亚洲色吧 Curious Minds, Recommended for the Curious Minded亚洲色吧� in The New York Times.
Founded in 1916, promotes and celebrates the visual, performing and literary arts in the nation亚洲色吧檚 capital. Both a private membership organization and a 501(c)3 nonprofit, the club presents public programming including art exhibitions; concerts; events focusing on writing, dance and theatre; and studio classes in visual arts. Its home is a historic Federal-era mansion that was once the residence of James Monroe 亚洲色吧� and for a time his official presidential residence.
Selection for the Marfield Prize is by an independent panel of judges following an initial phase during which volunteers read and rate dozens of books. This year亚洲色吧檚 competition also recognized five finalists: 亚洲色吧�3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool,亚洲色吧� by James Kaplan; 亚洲色吧淐ocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who亚洲色吧檚 Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,亚洲色吧� by Philip Gefter; 亚洲色吧淭he Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Making of a Culture War,亚洲色吧� by James Shapiro; 亚洲色吧淕et the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See,亚洲色吧� by Bianca Bosker; and 亚洲色吧淒rawn Testimony: My Four Decades as a Courtroom Sketch Artist,亚洲色吧� by Jane Rosenberg.