Have a Happy & Healthy New Year! - the Parklander

ART
WALKS
By Dr.Terryl Lawrence
H“Happy New Year to all.”The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It has been traditionally
thought that one could affect the luck for the coming year by what we did, ate, or resolved on
this first day of January. Many of us rang in 2007 in the company of family or friends, resolving to make
more time for relaxation and pleasure. In this regard I offer up a sumptuous feast of art, music and spectacle
that awaits you about 100 miles west in Naples, Florida.
If you have not visited Naples recently, or have never traveled there, this winter is the time to go. A
must for all visitors is the Philharmonic Center for the Arts which houses an impressive performing arts
center and The Naples Art Museum which is one of my favorite destinations.
The Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens (voted “Best Place to take the Kids” by Gulfshore Life and
Naples Daily News), offers a full day of shows and activities for the entire family.
Naples has become a bustling modern metropolis teeming with resorts to suit all taste levels. There
are sophisticated and casual restaurants, upscale shopping areas, miles and miles of walkable white sandy
beaches where you can hunt for seashells or luxuriate in stunning sunsets. Art galleries abound, displaying
works from Native Americans to Post-Modernists, and historic downtown areas like Fifth
Avenue are designed to encourage walking, dining and sight-seeing.
The Naples Art Museum has programmed an eclectic calendar of exhibitions bound to please
everyone. “Ernest Hemingway and Walker Evans: Three Weeks in Cuba, 1933”, runs through
January 21st and highlights the friendship between the writer and the photographer in a growing
time of political instability in Havana. For the sportsmen in the family, “The Great American
Game: Baseball” is centered around memorabilia from a prominent private collection. In addition
to the baseball inspired works by artists George Bellows, Raoul Dufy, Robert Rauschenberg and
others, you will find Babe Ruth’s 1919 contract marking his move from the Red Sox to the
Yankees, Joe DiMaggio’s 1948 uniform, autographed baseballs, a 1999 World Series Trophy and
so much more.
“Impressions: Americans in France, 1860-1930”, and “Claude Monet: Giverny and the North
of France” both open on Thursday January 18th. Impressionism is perhaps the best known and
most loved of all artistic styles. It is celebrated for its bright and fresh colors coupled with an
informal vision of the world. Its originators were French, and for this reason dozens of
American painters crossed the Atlantic to learn this new way of representing what they saw.
After viewing these two distinguished shows, enter the exhibit of “Leaders in American
Modernism” to see the continued development in American art – much of it inspired by the
freedom of spirit associated with the Impressionists.
Upcoming Exhibits
“Ernest Hemingway and Walker Evans:
Three Weeks in Cuba, 1933”
11/21/06-1/21/07
deKooning’s “Baseball Players” from “The
Great American Game: Baseball”
1/9/07-5/13/07
Monet’s “Une Rue en Pente” from “Claude
Monet: Giverny and the North of France”
1/18/07-5/13/07
64 JANUARY 2007
Chihuly Persian Ceiling
Bluemner’s “Harlem River” from “Leaders
in American Modernism”
9/13/06-6/30/07
Chihuly Icicle Chandelier
Louis XV Salon Fontain from
“Masters of Miniature”
9/13/06-6/30/07