Henry James has a wide range of acquaintances,including famous writers, artists,and wealthy people on both sides of the Atlantic.Among them is Isabella Stewart Gardner,who is such a wealthy woman that she founds a museum of her large art collections on Boston.James and Gardner have a long-standing friendship,both in the United States and Europe,especially in Venice.They affect each other in many fields.He introduces J.S.Sargent,who is famous for her portrait,and she inspires James in building up the background of his works and some characters in his works.James creates some characters suggestive of her.This paper explores how James and Gardner affect each other and demonstrates how his works are affected by the burgeoning consumer culture of the late 19^th century and the early 20^th century,focusing on The Wings of the Dove.In verifying the modernity of his work,Veblen's " conspicuous consumption " in The Theory of Leisure Class is used as the key viewpoint.