… and also in West Palm Beach, Florida

On the second day of our little trip to West Palm Beach (see first day here) we decided to visit the Norton Museum of Art which is close to the center of town on Dixie Avenue almost in front of Woodland Cemetery. I had read that this museum was the largest art museum in Florida with a distinguished collection of modern masters as well as 19th and 20th century art including some international masterpieces such as French artists Braque, Gauguin, Monet, Utrillo and American artists David, Hassam and Hopper. (Click on pictures to enlarge them.)




As we entered the museum we were greeted by a large sign announcing a special exhibit of photographs by fashion photographer Richard Avedon (1923-2004.) I remember seeing many of his imaginative photographs in fashion magazines, like Elle in France and also Vogue here. Security told us that pictures could be taken outside the exhibit, but not inside. I did buy some Avedon postcards in the gift shop so I could show them here (copyright the Richard Avedon Foundation. )





Richard Avedon is one of the greatest fashion photographers and maybe the most talented of the 20th century. He revolutionized fashion photography with his very innovative style, capturing his subjects in motion and showing them in a new light. He started his career by taking ID pictures for the US Merchant Marine. Then he became the fashion photographer for Harper’s Bazaar from 1945 to 1965. He then went on to Vogue magazine but at the same time he created many artistic series and portraits. Some of his portraits are of the famous and high-profile celebrities of the time such as Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles, Elizabeth Taylor and many others. More than 160 of his works are on exhibit at the Norton until 9 May, 2010. It was thrilling to see original magazine covers and vintage prints that I had seen in many magazines.


From top left: Cher in 1974 (Cheryl Sarkisian, American singer born May 20 1946) - Richard Avedon in front of his portraits - Model Davima with dog Sacha in a suit by Balenciaga in Café des Deux Magots, Paris 1965 - Brigitte Bardot in 1959 (French actress born Sept 28, 1934.)

After looking attentively at all these photographs and getting in the mood of the 60s in Paris I was ready to get back to Florida and sit for a while. Outside of the exhibit, back on the main floor of the museum, is a small circular room with a colorful Dale Chihuly (American Glass Blowing artist, born in 1941) glass ceiling. I took some pictures but they don’t do it justice – looking up to the ceiling you gaze through 700 individual glass sculptures. They create layers of translucent and joyful colors evoking an aquatic experience.




We walked to the new wing of the museum where a wide staircase leads to two floors of the permanent collection. As you walk up you pass by metal light boxes containing quotes from some well-known artists, such as: “To be an artist is to believe in life” – Henry Moore, “Art seems to me to be above all a state of soul” – Marc Chagall.







Once rested we trotted to the second floor where the Chinese art was located with tons of sculptures, furniture and exquisite ink paintings.

The Goddess Avalokitesvara, bronze sculpture by Allan Clark, American 1896-1950

The Norton Museum’s permanent collection consists of 5000 works – we could only see a small portion of them. I liked the American wing with such painters as Andrew Wyeth and Abbott Fuller Graves. I purchased the postcards below of their works.

Postcard of Pirate Country, 1939 watercolor by Andrew Wyeth, American 1917-2009

Postcard of Gathering Lilies, 1900, Abbott Fuller Graves, American 1859-1936

Then we walked into the European masters wing. I cannot describe the feeling to find myself in front of a known painting that I have only seen in a picture reproduction. There were several Maurice Utrillo’s.

Maurice Utrillo, French 1883-1955 from top: Rue de Montmartre, Little Country Church, Le Préau (the Courtyard.)

A few years ago we visited the Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas to see the Monet exhibit they had at the time. It was “Monet and the Mediterranean.“ Claude Monet was an indefatigable traveler in pursuit of light and visual stimuli. In 1884 he started his trip on the Côte d’Azur and went all the way to Venice, Italy. The museum in Fort Worth had assembled all his paintings from that period. The art works were loaned from private collectors and museums from all over the world. The Norton Museum Monet below had been loaned to the Texas exhibition.

Gardens at the Villa Moreno, Bordighera 1884, Claude Monet, French 1840-1926

This Monet painting was back at the Norton’s and we were pleased to admire it again. There were also the Portrait of Marguerite by Henri Matisse, The Man with a Carnation by Pierre Auguste Renoir and The Viaduct by Fernand Léger. I could not move from the Georges Braque paintings. I had looked at them so often in a small book I had when in France. I took art lessons in Paris and would have liked to possess his bold Cubism style which I tried to reproduce, in my manner. And there, in a small town in Florida were his paintings. These French paintings were so far away from their original homes; did they feel “heimat” like I did? Are they just pieces of fabric with some wood around them? Or do they get special vibrations when surrounded by the language that was spoken when they were created? (don’t think French is spoken very often at the Norton Museum though.)

From top left: Man with a Carnation, Pierre Auguste Renoir, French 1841-1919

Le Semaphore, Georges Braque, French, 1882-1963
Le Viaduct, Fernand Leger, French 1881-1955
Portrait of Marguerite, Henri Matisse, French 1869-1954

We saw many other pieces of art, more than I can remember. As we passed a glass wall on our way outside I took a couple of photographs because of the shadows and shapes – the curved benches, the sun reflecting on the ground and the palm trees outside the hurricane-proof glass.



We left and went back to a small seafood restaurant we had driven by because we realized that after several hours looking at art we had built up an appetite. It was called the Gulfstream Seafood Restaurant. We sampled a couple of their specials:

My husband had fish with corn on the cob and mixed vegetables

I had the stuffed snapper with sweet potato fries and marinated beets

It was time to go for a walk. I was ready to take more photographs but clouds were hovering and the sun was gone. We walked on Flagler Avenue along Lake Worth. Across from us was the Flagler Museum on Palm Beach Island – that was on our list for a visit in the next couple of days. Close by was the Breakers Hotel.



There were very few people walking along the lake (actually, none.)



I have a vintage postcard of the Lake Trail, but that day the water was not at all calm.




The wind was picking up, the palm trees were swaying. During the winter months it may be quite windy along Worth Lake since there are braces to protect the palm trees. Looking up I wondered if any of the coconut would fall on our heads.




As the wind was getting stronger the palm trees were waving even more and the lake was getting choppier.



The sky was darkening, so we decided to call it a day.



Then it was time for me to check all my travel brochures and plan our next day.

Painting by George Goodwin Kilburne, English 1839-1924

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ADDENDUM: Several readers asked me if the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida is connected with the Norton Simon Museum of Pasadena, California. I do not think so.

A wealthy industrialist (former head of Chicago based Acme Steel Co.) Ralph Hubbard Norton (1875-1953) and his wife Elizabeth Calhoun Norton (1881-1947) retired to West Palm Beach with a collection of over 5000 sculptures and paintings. They believed that their collection should be preserved and shared so decided to place them in a museum. The Norton Museum of Art opened in 1941.

Industrialist Norton Simon (1907-1993) was a passionate art collector who had amassed a growing collection of over 4,000 art objects and was looking for a location to display them. In 1974 the Pasadena Art Museum which was financially strapped made an overture to Mr Simon. They came to an agreement : Norton Simon absorbed the museum debts and assumed its leadership. The Pasadena Art Museum changed its name to the Norton Simon Museum.

I did not know of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, but now that I do, next time I am in California I shall visit it and tell you all about it.