By William Fong
Arts Writer

If you had a chance to catch my last column you saw that I had made the dreaded trip up to Palm Beach County recently to visit the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) and attend the opening festivities of Art Palm Beach. Since I love to eavesdrop, that evening among the hordes of bejeweled, jet set socialites I kept hearing chatter regarding the “fabulous, new Norton Museum.”  Since I somehow remained unscathed from the previous, arduous journey, I decided last week to once again venture north and check out what all the buzz was about. I’ll now share with you my rare, behind the scenes, sneak peek at the breathtaking, new Norton.

The Norton is poised to become the largest art museum in Florida with the opening of its new Southwest Wing in March. This remarkable expansion increases the Norton’s gallery space by 75 percent, allowing greater access to the Museum’s spectacular collection of Chinese, European, American and Contemporary Art, and Photography. The 42,000 square-foot project designed by Chad Floyd of Centerbrook Architects, the firm which also completed the 77,500 square-foot expansion and renovation of the Museum completed in 1997, features a cantilevered spiral staircase, dramatic three-story atrium, and various architectural treatments and abstract patterns referencing the three collections located in the new wing. Of note also is an exquisite Dale Chihuly glass ceiling, specifically commissioned for the space, with aquatic blues, greens and touches of gold.

The highly regarded collection of Chinese art, to be housed on the second floor, is a definite must see. I know many, myself included, who suggest that this collection easily rivals the one found at the Met. Ralph Hubbard Norton (an industrialist who headed the Acme Steel Company) and his wife, Elizabeth Calhoun Norton, the founders of the museum who bequeathed their extraordinary collection had a particular interest in acquiring some of the best examples from China’s long history.

 
Night Mist, Jackson Pollack (1945)

On my recent trip I did my obligatory run through of my favorites from the permanent collection.  I could spend hours on the bench in the room with their impressive Abstract Expressionist works (Pollok, DeKooning, … ).  I confess I did not take in Fire and Form: The Art of Contemporary Glass, as it was getting late in the day and the thoughts of rush hour traffic on I-95 were thoroughly daunting and, honestly, glass work has never been my cup of tea.  Picturing French Style: Three Hundred Years of Art and Fashion had yet to go up, but all of the materials I’ve read on the exhibition seem to warrant a trip north. The main exhibition on their upcoming calendar which I am most looking forward to is My Reality: Contemporary Art and the Culture of Japanese Animation. If you have been following my column, you know that I am a huge fan of many of the artists whose work finds inspiration in Japanese anime: the playful, witty works of Takashi Murikami, the wide-eyed children of Yoshimoto Nara and the irreverent sculptures by Paul McCarthy. Put this exhibition on your “must see” list and I am sure you won’t be disappointed.

Fire and Form: The Art of Contemporary Glass will be on view through March 23 and Picturing French Style: Three Hundred Years of Art and Fashion will be on view through April 27. Upcoming – My Reality: Contemporary Art and the Culture of Japanese Animation exhibition from April 12 through June 15.  The Norton Museum of Art is located at 1451 South Olive Ave., West Palm Beach. For more information, call 561-832-5196 or visit their website at www.norton.org.

William Fong is an art consultant who assists private collectors and corporate clients in the acquisition of art work.  He divides his time between Miami and Los Angeles.