The Norton Museum of Art?s new arrangement of its permanent collection is less a question of rearranging the furniture than it is rethinking the message and meaning of the museum.
But they?ve also bought some new furniture.
Reopening today after being closed for three weeks, the museum?s first series of moves may seem individually modest but cumulatively presage a different approach at Palm Beach County?s leading art institution.
The biggest effect is a reconsideration of some of the art; it turns out that paintings are like wine ? they can be radically altered depending on the immediate accompaniment.
"The reason to reinstall paintings is that the way they?re installed has enormous impact on the way they?re perceived," says museum director Hope Alswang.
Cheryl Brutvan, the Norton?s curator of contemporary art, was in charge of the colors and rearrangement, and she?s made some bold choices.
Certainly, the colors are more imposing. She?s chosen a light gray for some of the walls, although Brutvan insists there?s some purple in it. She really cuts loose in the first-floor Picower Gallery, which now houses the Impressionists and boasts a bold yellow wall implying the sun of Arles, a worthy background for Gauguin, Renoir, Monet and Degas.
That room in turn leads to cutting-edge artists of the early and mid-20th century, who were rising when museum founder Ralph Norton was buying in the ?30s and ?40s: Braque, Brancusi, Picasso and Miro.
The third floor?s Delacorte Gallery had a wall removed, so the space is now more open. It begins with an Italian room, which in turn segues into the Netherlands, which leads into a newly created portrait room that boasts a luxurious dark green finish.
The museum?s first floor has mostly been used as an entry point for special exhibits, but the redesign means that the core Norton collection will now be front and center. Among other things, modern masters such as Pollack and Warhol will lead to a new gallery space emphasizing recent acquisitions.
The existing space for special exhibitions has had a wall knocked out to create a much larger open area, to better display the work of younger artists on whom the Norton plans to place increasing emphasis.
"New artists tend to work large," is the way that assistant director Charles Stainback puts it.
Norton director Alswang feels that the redesign of the collection, on top of an increase in admissions from 97,000 to 115,000 for the museum year that ended in September, augurs well for an institution that has recently relied to a great extent on touring shows, sometimes at the cost of little attention being paid to its strong core collection.
"When an exhibition used to close," says Alswang, "it would feel as if a hole opened up in the middle of the museum. That won?t be the case in the future."
The Norton will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2016, and Alswang wants to increase the collection by 75 great works by that time.
In addition, the museum has enlisted Foster + Partners, a London architectural firm that has done work for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston as well as the British Museum, to begin planning the next stage of the Norton?s future.
Alswang wants to improve audience circulation within the museum, as well as landscaping. Down the road, there?s the possibility of further construction "for new exhibition space," says Michael Wurzel of Foster + Partners.
Still to come are changes to the museum?s deeply problematic entrance, a huge waste of open space that is completely out of scale with the rest of the building and offers no hint of the art that awaits.
Alswang?s overall intent is to reshape the museum into an entity "that creates its own intellectual property. I don?t want the museum to be quite so reactive. Most of our season will be our own product. It?s not that shows about the 18th century won?t happen, although I don?t want to do just another Impressionist show. It?s that I want to illuminate the works we already have, or amplify what we have.
"Certainly, we will have some strong touring shows in 2014."
Curator Brutvan says that the entire experience gave her an increased respect for the breadth and foundation of Ralph Norton?s taste. And despite shepherding a redesign which would seem to indicate a certain flair for interior decoration, Brutvan says it?s an illusion.
"You should see my apartment," she says.
The museum reopens today at 10 a.m.
There will be family art projects and three 30-minute curator talks in the galleries with reinstallations.
The gallery tour schedule is:
- Noon-12:30 p.m.: Re-Viewing the Masters, Jerry Dobrick, curatorial associate
- 1-1:30 p.m.: American Art in the ?American Century,? Glenn Tomlinson, education curator
- 2-2:30 p.m.: European Art, from Monet to Soutine, Jerry Dobrick
- 3-3:30 p.m.: Traders and Raiders in Asia, Laurie Barnes, Chinese art curator
The museum reopens today at 10 a.m.
There will be family art projects and three 30-minute curator talks in the galleries with reinstallations.
The gallery tour schedule is:
- Noon-12:30 p.m.: Re-Viewing the Masters, Jerry Dobrick, curatorial associate
- 1-1:30 p.m.: American Art in the ?American Century,? Glenn Tomlinson, education curator
- 2-2:30 p.m.: European Art, from Monet to Soutine, Jerry Dobrick
- 3-3:30 p.m.: Traders and Raiders in Asia, Laurie Barnes, Chinese art curator
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