A few hundred years ago, after the Renaissance but before the smog, artists were still nailing down important concepts such as the effect of multiple perspectives or the effect of light on a given subject. For a lot of big names in the art world of the 17th through early 19th centuries, the best way to understand the subtlety of light in a painting was to practice constantly, which is one reason so many landscape paintings feature sunsets, deep shadows, and light reflecting off water. Well, there's also the fact that this stuff makes for an engaging work of art.
But painters such as Salvator Rosa, Frederic Lord Leighton, and Edgar Degas used oil to produce landscapes that often depicted locations in Italy. While the artists generally considered these works to be little more than exercises, the results were the base of Impressionism. So the modern art lover can hardly afford to snub the oil sketches. Sixty-six of these, from the previously mentioned artists as well as others, hang at the Norton Museum of Art (1451 S. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach) from October 11 through January 4 in the museum's "A Brush with Nature: The Gere Collection of Landscape Oil Sketches." Call 561-832-5196. -- Dan Sweeney
SAT 10/11
Arggghhhh!
Artists freak out too, ya know
Norwegian artist Edvard Munch's 1893 painting The Scream is an instantly recognizable visual. But what does it mean? Yes, this is the timeless question of art. Well, Munch described the experience that led to this painting in an 1892 journal entry: "I was walking along the road with two friends. I felt a breath of melancholy, and suddenly the sky turned blood red. My friends walked on, but I stood there, trembling with fear. And I sensed a great, infinite scream pass through nature." It's unclear whether Munch was having some sort of starving artist anxiety attack or he'd been hitting the absinthe. But we do know that he took his feelings and splashed them on a canvas. Take a gander at Munch's works at the Boca Raton Museum of Art (Mizner Park, 501 Plaza Real, Boca Raton) during the film and video series. The event starts at 2 p.m. Call 561-392-2500. -- Audra Schroeder
FRI 10/10
Eaton Fine Art Goes Greek
Also adds Oppenheim
Eaton Fine Art (435 Gardenia St., West Palm Beach) opens its latest pair of exhibits this Friday. The first, "Nassos Daphnis: PX -- 1969," features the work of the Greek immigrant and current New York resident whose artwork is based on his color theory in Abstract Geometric Color Fields. Huh. We'll leave it up to the artists to understand the science, as little sense as even that may make. The next exhibit, "Submerged Vessels and Monumental Drawings," includes both an installation and several drawings by Dennis Oppenheim. The installation, "Submerged Vessels," features several sculpted boats lying around the grass, the base of their hulls made to look like faces. Huh. We'll leave it up to the art critic to understand that. Call 561-833-4766. -- Dan Sweeney
FRI 10/10
Drink o' the Month
Got a sweet tooth but don't want to be seen with an umbrella in your drink? Try the Chocolate Cake Shot from the Fox and Hound (4812 N. Dixie Hwy., Fort Lauderdale): Pour 3/4 ounce of Absolut Vanilla and 1/4 ounce Frangelico into a shot glass. Cover a slice of lemon with sugar. Bite on the lemon, hold the juice in your mouth, and take the shot. Spill some on your shirt for effect! -- Audra Schroeder
