Norton Museum of Art - West Palm Beach

The Norton Museum of Art is one of the best art museums here in South Florida.

If you happen to be in West Palm Beach, be sure to visit the Norton. The newly renovated building is a work of art in itself. The entrance was designed to wrap around an immense banyan tree which is impressive.

The Norton Museum of Art was founded in 1941 by Ralph Hubbard Norton and his wife Elizabeth Calhoun Norton. The Museum’s permanent collection now consists of more than 7,600 works in five curatorial departments: European, American, Chinese, Contemporary and Photography.

The museum consists of three floors serviced by a huge elevator and a nicely decorated staircase.

They also have a restaurant and a boutique shop. There was free parking just across the street from the entrance.

Extensive collection that includes venetian glass, modern art, Chinese ceramics, dutch, Italian and English paintings from the 16th - 18th century.

Find yourself in the midst of a gallery with large canvases of paintings like a recent acquisition from Jeff Koons’ Antiquity series. Antiquity is a painting with a background that depicts a patchwork of two paintings separated by 400 years —Titan’s Venus and Adonis and Pablo Picasso’s Le Baiser (The Kiss).

In this work, Koons overlays a childlike drawing of female anatomy – Aphrodite – over the vast expanse of the composition.

Be prepared to look up and be dazzled by another favorite of Norton’s visitors - The Persian Sealife Ceiling.

This installation by Dale Chihuly, an American glass sculptor with outstanding artistic merit in the field of blown glass, is made of many individual elements taking the form of sea life. The spacious area where the installation is and the lighting that fills it allow the elements to shimmer on the surrounding walls for spectacular viewing.

The collection of Chinese art at the museum is impressive with more than 700 objects including ancient jade and bronze. Also included are imperial jade and hardstone carvings, and other significant works of art illustrating the aesthetic values, technical achievements, and cultural beliefs of China.

You will see ceramics, lacquer, metalwork, paintings, sculptures, and textiles that were produced over a span of approximately 5,000 years. So if you have heard of the Qing dynasty, you will be thrilled to see objects representing that significant period of Chinese prominence in the 1700s.

For the kids there is a new Augmented Reality experience that was fantastic! It made my son interact with the art and when he completed the tasks, he wanted to use my phone to take pictures of everything.

I was fortunate to be there during a Georgia O’Keefe exhibit that displayed many of her artifacts as well as her art.

How interesting to see the clothing of Georgia O’Keefe, along with the personal photos, pictures, etc. It was an outstanding exhibit… and you could even take a selfie with a stuffed monkey and imitate her painting Self Portrait with Monkeys.

The centerpiece of the Norton Museum transformation is the Pamela and Robert B. Goergen Garden with abundant trees and plantings in different sections arranged axially across the main building. The garden provides an amazing view from inside its glass and steel colonnade in the main building.

There are large-scale sculptures, among them Antony Gormley’s “Total Strangers”, three cast-iron, life-size human figures facing in opposite directions on the lawn. There are also walking paths and benches that beckon viewers to stroll and take it all in.

We visited during the Chinese New Year Festival so admission was free and included museum access. It was fun and they had interactive activities good for families like lantern making, etc.

The museum has an excellent website which you need to spend time with before visiting.