Nightingale Uncaged:
Jenny Lind in Northampton

An Exhibition by Elizabeth Stone
Contemporary Art at Historic Northampton, May 2014

Portrait of Jenny Lind

As part of the Contemporary Art at Historic Northampton exhibit series, Northampton figurative artist Elizabeth Stone presented a contemporary interpretation of Jenny Lind inspired by portraits and ephemera from the museum’s collection. Jenny Lind, “the Swedish Nightingale” was a renowned opera star in Europe who became an icon in this country when she toured America in the mid-19th century. Her tour was heavily promoted and managed by PT Barnum, who brought her to the United States. After 9 months and 93 concerts up and down the region west of the Mississippi, Jenny Lind amicably broke her 100-concert contract with Barnum. She continued to tour on her own and arrived in Northampton for a concert in July of 1851. She drew a crowd of 1,800 folks to the Old First Church on Main Street. Lind enjoyed the beauty of Northampton and returned 7 months later after marrying her piano accompanist, Otto Goldschmidt. The newlyweds traveled by train to Northampton, where they spent 3 months quietly honeymooning at the Round Hill Hotel. Jenny Goldschmidt’s farewell concert in Northampton took place at the Town Hall in May 1852. Proceeds from the concert funded the library of the Young Men’s Institute, the forerunner of Forbes Library. At left is Portrait of Jenny Lind, by Elizabeth Stone, watercolor and ink on mylar. (Photography credit: Jim Gipe)

Jenny Lind’s successful music career unfortunately predated the advent of sound recording. We can only imagine her coloratura soprano voice through descriptions and recordings made of her repertoire by later artists. Though she was often painted and photographed, the images are mostly romanticized. Glowing accounts of Jenny Lind’s character depict her as a philanthropic model woman who was kind to the sick and less fortunate, deeply religious, self-possessed and modest.  At right is Jenny's Dress, a dress created for this exhibition out of paper by Elizabeth Stone. Made of paper, thread, tape, cord, plastic and paint, the dress measures 53" in height by 42" in width. (Photography credit: Jim Gipe)

Northampton treasures the memory of Jenny Lind Goldschmidt’s sojourn here. She was constantly besieged by fans on her tour with Barnum, but when she struck out on her own, she chose Northampton as the place where she could live peacefully with her new husband. Jenny called Northampton “the most beautiful village in the world” and reputedly “the paradise of America.” The paradise nickname has stuck, but Jenny Lind’s memory is fading as time goes on. Nightingale Uncaged: Jenny Lind in Northampton was an attempt to bring her back in an ethereal form. Elizabeth Stone’s contemporary impressions of Jenny Lind, made of translucent white materials, contrast with a romanticized oil portrait by an unknown painter and ephemera from the collection of Historic Northampton (a detail of this portrait is shown at left). (Photography credit: Ellen Augarten)