Natalie Dykstra

In order to enjoy Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner by Natalie Dykstra you must be willing to read a lot of descriptions of art, clothes, music, houses, and literature — all of the things that Gardner herself loved. If that sounds wonderful to you, then you have found your book; even if it sounds tolerable to you I encourage you to pick up this new biography of the amazing woman. Dykstra delves into her life from childhood onward, using letters and other primary source documents to bolster the story of how she gathered one of the first outstanding collections of fine art in America.… (altro)

The life of Clover Hooper Adams inevitably summons up the image from her own photographs of a tree valiantly clinging to rocks in a brisk ocean wind, small and tortured, but valiant and determined to hang on and make the best of it for as long as possible. This is the sort of biography I read and think, "but for the grace of..." In our day, a woman of Clover's background goes to the college of her choice, chooses a career from a full palette of options, can consult doctors both for infertility and for depression . . . Talk openly with friends and spouse about all these matters and not be judged too harshly or shunned socially for ambition or problems-- For all the inequities that remain, just these life-giving, soul-saving changes give me chills to consider NOT having. Sure, plenty of marriages even now, can't survive two successful and fulfilled partners working together, but most can or at least strive to do so. The pathos of Clover's life, it seems to me, is the timing of it. And it is out of lives such as hers that the women's movement derived its impetus. That even a woman of such privilege and possibilities would be so trammeled and stunted by the lack of space to grow in is sobering. The book is painstakingly researched, competently written and, I think, Dykstra has made the attempt to stand back and let the reader make what h/she may of her findings. I've heard hints that somehow Adams was 'complicit' in her death, but Dykstra does make a compelling case that he was concerned, did what he could, but was a man of his time and the two as a couple had almost a fetish about privacy. The worst thing he can be said to have done is write the novel Esther--an all-too-obvious portrait of Clover, I would have been shattered if my spouse wrote a book like that about me, so I can't think how it might have undermined her work as a photographer (basic point of it that women can't be serious artists). Dykstra did an amazing job describing Clover's photographs--but I find myself wishing the book had been published in a 'big book' format with the text and ALL of her photographs. I am giving Dykstra four stars but want to express my extreme frustration that I had to settle for the descriptions and not the photographs which are supremely important as evidence of just how talented Clover was. Not Dykstra's fault, obviously, but a factor! I hope someone has published a full book of her photographs somewhere. ****… (altro)

People's first acquaintance with Henry Adams might be as the son and grandson of two America Presidents. A few, like me, might know him from his opus The Education of Henry Adams. Very few will know of his marriage to young Marion Hooper, known to all and sundry as Clover. That Mrs. Adams committed suicide at the age of 42 colors this tale from the start. The Adamses led lives of privilege and connection -- apparently knowing everyone worth knowing in the middle to late 19th century. What would lead this lively and accomplished woman to end her life? Natalie Dykstra's history provides tons of well-sourced detail and engages in some regrettable armchair psychoanalysis, only to be left with some unsatisfactory hypotheses. Alas, as in many of these cases, absent a detailed note or record, one is unable to fully grasp the full extent of another's utter despair.

Dykstra is more successful in bringing to light the lives of this fascinating couple. Clover's cousin was Col. Robert Gould Shaw, who famously led the all black Massachusetts 54th during Civil War, as memorialized in the film Glory.. An Aunt owned the estate which eventually became Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In childhood and marriage, she counted amongst her friends authors, politicians, generals, artists, historians, philosophers and academics. The famous architect H. H. Richardson designed their Washington D.C. home. The sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens designed the hauntingly beautiful sculpture at her grave. Having lost her mother at a young age, Clover was extraordinarily close with her father. His death preceded her own by several months. It is supposed her grief and depression at his loss may have fed into her final act.

Most delightful is the discovery of many photographs taken by Clover Adams. She took to this art form in its infancy, enthusiastic to the point of creating a studio and developing room in several homes. Well before point-and-shoot instamatics, photography of this era was physically and artistically demanding. Cameras were heavy and exposures long. Her photographs, many of which are reproduced here, were carefully composed. They are entrancing and haunting even across the years. Her developing artistic talent and sensibility is a delight to witness.

Henry Adams was an extremely private man. He never spoke publicly about his wife's death. Indeed "The Education of Henry Adams" makes no mention of her at all. This is not to say he didn't privately grieve. I was particularly by his reference in a letter to "What a vast fraternity it is, -- that of 'Hearts that Ache.'" Those who have lost a close loved one know intimately that sense of being initiated to a club of grief and loss.

The volume is well sourced, deeply researched with careful endnotes. Dykstra does a great service bringing to light this once forgotten story of a talented yet tragic life.… (altro)