A Taste of the Suite Life

One evening this week The Whitney, a recently completed condominium and commercial complex located in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach on the corner of Quadrille and Evernia Streets, hosted a "Summer Stroll" of their first story businesses.  The opening reception, which took place from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m., invited attendees to move from suite to suite while enjoying food and libation.  The first area offered champagne and chocolate covered strawberries, and every other suite provided either wine and beer tasting by Distinctive Wines, Bicardi Mojitos, or Martinis as well as delicious hors d"oeuvres and desserts by Ann Z Gourmet Catering.  The event showed off the new tenants and achieved that in an elegant fashion. Wandering from suite to suite, a champagne glass in hand, I particularly enjoyed meeting the gracious owner of Metro Home.  Her store sells moderately priced and very attractive modern furniture, home decorations, and accessories.

Art and photography were part of the fare, and most impressive were the works of Ruth Petzold.  The award winning photographer's underwater dolphin photographs sponsored the Wild Dolphin Project Corporate Giving Program.  The project is a scientific research organization based in Jupiter that studies and reports on the natural history of the Atlantic spotted dolphins. Ms. Petzold's photographs were spectacular.  Though the exhibition included only her underwater photography, she also depicts the wildlife of Antartica, the Artic, and Africa.  Her love of nature has taken her to remote areas in seven continents to photograph the creatures of the world.  One can see her glorious work on www.ruthpetzold.com.

The best part of the event for me was visiting Bruce Helander's new studio.  The renowned collage artist is a treasure in West Palm Beach.  For nine years his studio was located upstairs in a building in City Place.  He recently moved to the larger ground floor space in The Whitney, and though he doesn't need the foot traffic, it certainly makes it easier for his art appreciators to see his work.  His spacious studio has windows from floor to ceiling in the front, and a walk up loft at the back provides him with private workspace.  The two-story wall on one side is covered with his collages and prints.

I was delighted by one of his latest pieces, which was inspired by the Bernie Madoff scandal.  In a dart board motif, a smiling Bernie Madoff is behind bars in the center of a bull's eye.  On the bottom at the left is a large "Go To Jail" Monopoly card, and the rest of the work is covered with other interesting and provocative images.  The original collage was sold, but he made prints.  An individual "Jail Bird" print sells for $900, but once twenty-five are sold, the price will go up to $1,800 for the next fifty prints and $2,800 for the last twenty-five.  A "generous" portion of the sales will be donated to Autism Speaks.  To see Bruce's fabulous work go to www.brucehelander.com.

Years ago, I took a Master Class with Bruce at the Armory Art Center.  I have been producing collage style paintings ever since.  At the top is my oil on canvas, "Homage to Bruce."

Magic In West Palm Beach

Last April after a trip to Disney World, I wrote a column for BestofArtists.com entitled My Hero. To me, Walt Disney was an artist though many would argue that he was a cartoonist and even more importantly, an entrepreneur. Apparently I am not alone in my opinion, however, since the Norton, most definitely an art museum, has come through once again. The Music Behind the Magic: Disney 1928 - Today, a wonderful exhibition, opened recently and runs through September 6th. It explores the role music has played in Disney animation, TV shows, in film, and on Broadway.

Mostly interactive, the exhibit captures the magical feeling one has in Disneyland as it invites the viewer to enter the world of animation and the Disney vision. One can look at cartoons through scopes or on screens while listening to artists and historians explain how the music enhances the visual drama. I was delighted to put on headphones while I watched excerpts of Bambi, Dumbo, and Lady and the Tramp. Learning about Disney’s sense of humor while watching the hippos and alligators perform ballet in my old favorite, Fantasia, made it even more pleasurable.

A Disney exhibit would not be complete without some drawings. This one includes The Enchanted Tiki Room acrylic by Colin Campbell and two watercolors, the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, by Marc Davis. The show also contains memorabilia from the ‘50s, ‘70s, and ‘90s mouseketeer shows as well as the spectacular costumes designed by Julie Taymor for the Lion King.

Typical of a Disney experience, the show brought out the child in me, and I imagine it does in most visitors. I believe Walt would say, it’s for children of all ages. Though kids seemed to be getting a kick out of the sound effects room, I found their noise distracting at first. I had no idea how much fun they were having until later when my friend, Jane, and I decided to enter the area. We made at least as much noise when we attempted to record our own sound effects for a Mickey cartoon. I say attempted because unlike the kids, we never were able to figure out how to do the recording. That didn’t diminish our enjoyment.

A visit to the Norton Museum is a great excuse for making a trip to downtown West Palm Beach. If you don’t eat a gourmet lunch in Café 1451 at the museum, you can take a short ride to City Place where there are choices of excellent restaurants in the outdoor shopping and cultural center. There you can also enjoy looking at the beautiful fountains and the European style architecture. Or better yet take a free trolley to Clematis Street to see the elegant architecture in the recently completed City Center. The civic complex includes the brand new four-story public library, City Hall, and the Palm Beach Photographic Centre, a non-profit cultural and educational institute.

Above are my photos of City Center and of the sculpture Reading Together created by Judith Peck, which sits in front of the library in the plaza courtyard.

Sculpture at the Norton

The sculpture filled courtyard at the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach is a place that I always enjoy visiting. A member of the Norton since I moved to Florida twenty-six years ago, I have attended innumerable membership previews where cookies and punch or hors d’oeuvres and wine were served outside in the courtyard. There one can admire the sculpture and the lush flora while sipping drinks and socializing. On other visits, I have gone out to the courtyard to relax, meditate, and rest my feet after wandering around the galleries. I love the classical sculptures particularly the sensuous ones of Pan.

Last Friday a wonderful exhibit opened which will be on display until the end of September. The show, Off The Wall: The Human Form in Sculpture represents American and European figurative work from the late 1700s to the present. Now one can enjoy beautiful sculptures both in and outside the museum. Beginning with small figures and busts, the show includes works by Degas, Brancusi, and Picasso and everything from classical to abstract pieces. I was amused to see Max Ernst’s surrealistic Head (1960), a large translucent blown glass head with three glass circular disks to suggest facial features. Though definitely not one of my favorites in the show, it did make me smile.

I was pleased that several female artists were represented. Among them was a local black sculptress named Augusta Savage (1892 – 1962), who achieved recognition in West Palm Beach before she made her home in New York City. Her small bust of a young black male, Gamin (1929) was one of my favorites.

The thirty works include several full figures and a couple of massive pieces. I particularly enjoyed seeing Duane Hanson’s unbelievably realistic Young Worker (1976) from the permanent collection, the gorgeous bronze sculpture of The Goddess Avabkitesvara (1930) by Allan Clark, and Zur with Dog (1989) by the Israeli artist Boaz Vardia.

If you haven’t already heard, it’s worth mentioning again that the Norton Museum received a National award last year. The Norton Museum was 1 of 5 museums out of 17,500 museums nationwide that won the 2008 National Medal for Museum Services. The award, the nation’s highest honor, is given to institutions that make a difference in their communities, and in addition to the medal each museum receives $10,000. Kudos to the Norton!

Visiting The Four Arts

Every winter I look forward to the exhibitions at The Society of The Four Arts in Palm Beach. Years ago when my dad was still alive, the gallery had an Annual National Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings. My dad's work was accepted into the 55th and 56th Annual shows. I would have loved to submit one of my paintings for consideration, but by the time I began exhibiting in 2002 or 2003, the Annual Exhibition was no longer taking place. Regardless of that, whenever I visit the Society I have a warm feeling and a sense of my dad's presence there. In recent years, I have enjoyed visiting the gardens across the street from the gallery, and last week I discovered the King Library.

My sister, Jan, who is the treasurer of the Audubon Society of the Everglades (our local chapter), invited me to join her for a lecture given by Claudine Laabs, an Audubon chum. Claudine is a fabulous nature photographer who specializes in avian photography. Her beautiful work has been published in a variety of publications including World Wildlife Fund books and Audubon calendars. Her lecture and slide presentation begins in the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge near Vero Beach, travels across the state to Sanibel, east to Palm Beach County and down to the Everglades and the Keys showing the magnificent birds who share our environment. Claudine's engaging style, attractive appearance, and knowledge about wildlife add to the power of her photographs. Remember her name because she lectures often in local libraries.

The day of her lecture we were given handouts about upcoming lectures in the King Library. This week Jan and I attended Human Expressionism, The Human Figure and the Jewish Experience given by Dr. Eliane Strosberg whose book with the same name was published last year. Dr. Strosberg, an M.D. and Ph.D., is the mother of Serge Strosberg, a Belgium born emerging internationally known artist. His compelling representations of human figures are currently on display at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens in West Palm Beach. Dr. Strosberg previously published Art & Science, but her son's work inspired her recent book on Human Expressionism. She presented figure paintings and sculptures done by Jewish artists as early as 237 B.C. and offered an analysis of artists through the centuries including the works of Pissarro, Soutine, and Modigliani.

That afternoon we also visited the main gallery where I was delighted by a small William Merritt Chase painting done on the back of a cigar box lid. He was one of the many artists represented in the show American Impressionism Paintings From The Phillips Collection which ends April 15th. Besides Chase, I enjoyed five shimmering landscapes done by J. Alden Weir as well as several paintings by Ernest Lawson, Maurice Prendergast, and Robert Spencer.

The Society of the Four Arts, a nonprofit organization, was founded by a group of Palm Beach residents to meet the cultural needs of the community. The four arts which constitute the Society's mission are music, drama, literature, and art. Every season from November through April, The Four Arts presents lectures, concerts, films, art exhibitions, and educational programs. It's always a pleasure to visit, so I'm sorry that this season is coming to an end. At least the gardens are open during the summer, and there is always next season.