Continuing with our visit to the Norton
Museum of Art in West Palm Beach…
Admission to the Norton Museum is $12.00
for adults and $5.00 for students. On
Thursdays, all admissions are half price!
The museum is closed on Mondays…
The mural behind the desk covers the
entire wall… It is titled ‘faux real’ and it’s a construction consisting of a
collage of photographs. The artist is
Mickalene Thomas.
The museum almost constantly features
special exhibits. During our visit these
exhibits included ‘The Polaroid Years – Instant Photography and
Experimentation’; ‘David Webb – Society’s Jeweler’; Qing Chic – Chinese
Textiles from the 19th to early 20th Century’, and; ‘To
Jane, Love Andy – Warhol’s First Superstar’.
For the most part, photographs were not allowed in these special
exhibits…but the Warhol exhibit and the Webb exhibit were very interesting…
This 1852 bronze sculpture is one of only
5 casts of “The Archangel Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan” by English artist Henry
Hugh Armstead. (1828 – 1905) To learn more about Armstead, you can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hugh_Armstead.
This somewhat gruesome painting from 1626
is from a biblical story. This work is
entitled “Judith with the Head of Holofernes”.
The artist is Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri. Giovanni lived from 1589 until 1655.
This is actually a self-portrait of sorts…circa
1635…by Flemish painter David Teniers II. (1610–1690) Teniers is the artist on
one knee with palette and brushes in hand.
The painting is entitled “The Interior of a Nobleman’s Gallery”. Interestingly, while Teniers’ paintings are
shown hanging on the wall, the artist also included works by other artists as
well.
David Teniers the Younger (or the Second)
was born in Antwerp, the son of artist David Teniers the Elder. His son David
Teniers III and his grandson David Teniers IV were also painters. His wife
Anna, née Anna Breughel, was the daughter of Jan Brueghel the Elder and the
granddaughter of Pieter Brueghel the Elder.
Both of the Brueghel’s were famous painters as well...
This painting is entitled “Portrait of
Judith van Volbergen”. It was painted in
1611 by Dutch artist Jan Anthonisz Van Ravensteyn. (1572 – 1657) The wealth of
the bride’s family is displayed front and center just by the conspicuous
amounts of gold and pearls she’s wearing…
Titled “A Village in the Forest” this
circa 1620’s painting was created by Flemish artist Joos de Momper II. (1564 –
1637)
Note: Flemish people historically
came from Flanders. Today Flanders
normally refers to the Dutch speaking northern portion of Belgium.
Historically, the name referred to a region located in the north-western part
of present-day Belgium and adjacent parts of France and the Netherlands.
This ‘triptych’ painting dating from
circa 1500 was created by Flemish artist Goswin Van Der Weyden. (1564 – 1637)
It is entitled “Crucifixion with Saints and Donors”. It seems a bit strange to me but the 2 side
panels depict the actual ‘donor’ that commissioned this work of art as well as
his family.
Note: A triptych is a work of
art, (usually a panel painting), that is divided into three sections, or three
carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed
open.
Note: It must have been the good
life if you were a successful artist back in the 1500s and 1600s! When you consider how long the average person
lived back then, (typically 40 years old or thereabouts…), the fact that the
previous 5 artists lived for between 66 and 85 years is pretty amazing…
This jumble of blown glass assembled
on a wooden base is entitled “One and Others”.
It was created in 2011 by Beth Lipman. (1971 – Current) To check out
Beth’s website and some of her other works, just go to http://bethlipman.com/.
I stood next to this huge painting
entitled “George II” just to provide some scale or contrast to its huge
size. The artist is Charles Jervas.
(1675 – 1739) This is a version of the state portrait that had been
commissioned by the Corporation of London in 1727. To learn more about Jervas, you can just
click on this link… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Jervas.
I’m really partial to ship paintings and
sailing ships are my favorites! This painting
circa 1860 was made by an unknown American artist. The painting is titled “The Snap Dragon in
Hong Kong Harbor”. The Snap Dragon, a
bark or 3-masted ship, was built in New York City in 1853. During the 1800s, America imported great
quantities of porcelain from China…which leads us to the next exhibit at the
Norton Museum.
An entire section of the Norton museum is
devoted to Chinese art…especially ceramics and earthenware. I love Chinese porcelains…and we even own a
few collectable pieces…with the oldest dating back to the late 1700s.
The museum’s exhibit of Chinese arts is
entitled ‘Qing Chic’. The Qing Dynasty
stretched from 1644 until 1912 and it was the last imperial dynasty of
China.
This is a ‘mingqi’ or ‘spirit article’…a
tomb model with farm buildings, 2 women and a pond from the tomb of a
successful Chinese landowner. These types
of items were used as surrogates for the real thing and objects like this were
used to furnish tombs. This item dates
from 200 BC/BCE to 200 AD/CE…
These colorful porcelains are from the
Qing Dynasty…in this case ranging from the 1700s until the middle 1800s. I also really like simple blue and white
porcelains… While moving many years ago, much to my disgust I managed to break
one of the finest big blue and white vases we’ve ever seen or owned…
This is a ‘Dragon Robe’…a festive robe
that was probably made for the Empress Dowager Cixi sometime between 1875 and
1908. Cixi was a powerful and
charismatic woman who unofficially but effectively controlled China for 47
years…from 1861 until her death in 1908.
To learn more about dragon robes and to
see additional designs, you can go to http://www.artsmia.org/world-myths/artbyculture/dragon_background.html.
I was surprised to learn that this
Buddhist statue was Chinese… It’s a Bodhisattva Maitreya from the Northern Wei
Dynasty sometime between the 4th and 6th Century.
Bodhisattva is a Buddhism term that
refers to someone who is embarked on the path of the Buddha in a meaningful
way. It is a compound term: bodhi
('Supreme knowledge', lighting) and sattva (be). Thus, refers to a being engaged in search of
Supreme enlightenment. Maitreya is a
bodhisattva, who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on Earth, and who
achieves complete enlightenment.
Other displays in the museums display of
Chinese art forms include classic metal work and beautiful furniture. I especially liked the fanciful cloisonné
creatures with their decorative wall mounts…
FYI…Cloisonné is an ancient technique for
decorating metalwork objects. The
decoration is formed by first adding compartments, (cloisons in French), to the
metal object by soldering or adhering silver or gold wires or thin strips
placed on their edges. These remain visible in the finished piece, separating the
different compartments of the enamel or inlays, which are often of several
colors. Cloisonné enamel objects are
worked on with enamel powder made into a paste, which then needs to be fired in
a kiln. While vitreous enamels in recent
centuries, during earlier times inlays of cut gemstones, glass, and other
materials were used.
This is a carved lacquer “Coromadel”
screen dated from 1793. From a distance,
it looks like ‘just’ a painted Chinese screen…but in reality, it’s carved and
then painted and lacquered.
I was confused by the term ‘Coromadel’
because as I knew it, the word refers to a portion of the coast of India. However, I now know that when used with
‘screen’, it also is defined as a Chinese lacquered folding screen…
These large objects are jade chimestones
from the Qing Dynasty back in 1761. Both
stones have the same poem carved on them and highlighted in small gold lacquer
letters. The poem is about jade, music
and court ritual. Originally, these
chimestones were suspended from a special rack.
Each stone produced a tone that was associated with a specific month of
the lunar year. The stone on the left
produces tone #12 and the one on the right produces tone #8…
I love beautiful porcelain, china and
earthenware… Actually, this plate is made from none of those processes. This is a Mughal Style Chrysanthemum Dish is
made from nephrite jade and chalcdony from the late 19th or early 20th
century. From what I could learn, Mughal
style is related to a type of Indian architecture.
Since Laurie loves horses, it seemed
appropriate to end this posting with this ancient earthenware and polychrome
‘Horse and Groom’ from either China – Sixteen Kingdoms or the Northern
Dynasties… It was made somewhere between the 4th and 6th
centuries. It always boggles our minds
when you consider that a breakable artifact like this one manages to survive
900 – 1,000 years without being destroyed!
Just click on any of the photos in order
to enlarge them…
Thanks for stopping by for a visit!
Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
I remember the Chinese art room, but the blown glass is new since our visit. It is incredible.
ReplyDeleteSam