From 1871 to 1887, Gardner was an assistant in the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum. While there, he helped to write the first collections catalogues for Greek coins at the museum. He was elected a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge in 1872. He held the first editorship of The Journal of Hellenic Studies from 1879 to 1895. He was Disney Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge from 1879 to 1886. He then moved to the University of Oxford and held the Lincoln and Merton Professorship of Classical Archaeology from 1887 to 1925. During his time at the university, he had a stimulating influence on the study of ancient, and particularly Greek, art. He was succeeded by John Beazley. In his later years, he also became prominent as an historical critic on Biblical subjects.
