For those inclined to the quietly intense appreciation of art, the galleries and chambers of Florida's art museums provide sanctum. Indeed, great art flourishes in the Sunshine State. From the inestimable works of the masters, to the thrilling work of new artists, the art in Florida's museums is as variedly beautiful as the state's natural riches. When you decide to go on a Florida art safari, outfit yourself with your gallery gear (comfortable shoes, an attentive spirit and a sense of wonder) and head to one of the great Florida art museums.


Feel Free to Dalí

The world's most comprehensive collection of the famed surrealist painter has found a permanent home at the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg. Ninety-five of the artist's oils, spanning all four of his aesthetic periods, enable the collection at the museum to give visitors a whole picture of this much-admired artist. More than 100 watercolors and 1,400 graphics, photographs, sculptures and objects d'art augment the oil collection. From Dalís early period through his transition to the surrealism he introduced to the world, this dedicated museum is truly extraordinary. Thousands of visitors go to St. Petersburg specifically to pay homage to this eccentric artist and to explore in depth his amazing vision of the world. And with so many of his great works to appreciate, take your time and dally a little.


The Exquisite Moderns

From the first seeds planted in late 19th century Europe by Impressionists such as Degas, Renoir, Pissarro and Cézanne to Modernism's fullest flowering in Jackson Pollock, Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keeffe, the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach cultivates a collection of art of the modern age. The museum's more than 5,000 works also include exemplar works of photography and Chinese art. The new Gail and Melvin Nessel Wing, with its dramatic three-story atrium and Chihuly glass ceiling, opened to the public in 2003, increasing the museum's gallery space by 75 percent.

Along with exquisite examples of African, pre-Colombian American, Asian and contemporary art, the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art on the campus of University of Florida in Gainesville boasts a collection of modern artists including the French impressionist Claude Monet and Americans William Morris Hunt and Herman Herzog.

The Wolfsonian Museum of Modern Art and Design at Florida International University in Miami Beach presents a view of modern art with a great emphasis on design, architecture, graphic posters and other less traditionally championed forms of art. The permanent collections include the British Arts and Crafts movement, Dutch Art Nouveau, American Industrial Design, a vast array of travel-related graphics and posters and samples of 20th century political propaganda. The museum also hosts themed traveling exhibits, pulling together many disparate threads of the world's art and design.

With modern works by Campigli, Degas, Glackens, Picasso, Klee, Matisse, Prendergast, Redon, Rouault and Severini, the Boca Raton Museum of Art offers a broad view of modernism. Substantial contemporary and 19th-century European works help frame the modern pieces.


The Old Masters: How Well They Understood

Circus magnate John Ringling of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus created the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in 1929 to hold his ever-growing collection of European masters. He bequeathed it to the people of the State of Florida when he died in 1936, leaving a grand array of some of Europe's most-celebrated artists, including Rubens, Hals, Veronese, Poussin, Velázquez, El Greco and Ribera. Most recently the museum purchased the large mythological painting of the Judgment of Paris by Ludovico David and Cephalus Grieving Over the Dying Procris by Abraham Janssens. The museum continues to add more of the great masters to its collection and to host great contemporary and modern traveling exhibits.

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville boasts more than 1,100 European paintings, sculptures, works on paper and decorative arts from the 12th to 20th centuries. Paintings from the Old Master include works by Gaddi, Aertsen, Vasari, Assereto, Rubens, Snyders, Steen and Lorrain.
Worlds of Art

The Orlando Museum of Art has a focus on 18th, 19th and 20 th -century American art - paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures and other works by artists such as Ansel Adams, Thomas Moran, Dennis Oppenheim, Georgia O'Keeffe, John Singer Sargent, Suzanne McClelland, Robert Rauschenberg, Pat Steir, Morris Louis, John Chamberlain and George Inness. Beyond this, the museum's collection includes pre-Colombian and African work. Such diverse cultures as the Colima, Aztec and Zapotec of Mexico; the Zulu, Xhosa, Thembu and Ndebele of southern Africa; the Anasazi and Mogollon of the Southwestern United States; the Yoruba, Baule and Dogon of western Africa; and the Inca, Monche and Nazca of Peru are represented.

The Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala has a collection that well represents art from many times and places. From ancient Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman and Persian objects, to African, Asian and Islamic arts, a perusal of this collection is sure to broaden your horizons. Greek Orthodox icons and medieval manuscripts round out the museum's diverse holdings.

Thousands of visitors go to St. Petersburg specifically to pay homage to this eccentric artist and to explore in depth his amazing vision of the world. And with so many of his great works to appreciate, take your time and dally a little.


The collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg also ranges from antiquity to contemporary art of the world, including pre-Columbian and Asian artifacts. The museum's American artists include George Inness, Robert Henri and Georgia O'Keeffe. The museum strives to present to the visitor a comprehensive view of visual art. In addition, the museum's galleries show a commitment to art photography, including such pioneers as Aaron Siskind.

The Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland has four areas of focus: modern and contemporary art, Asian art, European and American decorative arts and pre-Columbian art. Highlights include ceramics, textiles, stone and precious metals dating from c.1,000 BC to c.AD 1500 originating in Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru. Also present are substantial collections of 20th-century Japanese woodcut prints and Qing Dynasty Chinese panel paintings.


Art Continues

 With a special focus on contemporary paintings, sculpture and photography from contemporary artists, the Tampa Museum of Art is a resource for visitors interested in the continuing role art plays in our culture, and the museum's collection of classical antiquities documents where we started.

The Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale boasts an ever-growing collection of modern and contemporary American, European and Cuban work, including Picasso ceramics, such pop artists as Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist, Larry Rivers and Robert Rauschenberg and Cuban artists Carlos Garaicoa, Raul Corrales and the late Pedro Alvarez.


Galleries

 The top floor of the Mary Brogan Museum of Art & Science in Tallahassee is a gallery space that hosts varied exhibits, ranging from contemporary African American art and POP Art and the Space Age to Flora: Art and Ecology in Florida and Painters of Normandy: Roots of Impressionism.

The LeMoyne Art Foundation - Center for the Visual Arts also in Tallahassee, presents eight to 12 scheduled exhibitions every year with something for everyone. Its mission is to support visual arts by well-known and developing artists.