- [Announcer] "Travels and Traditions with Burt and Nicholas Wolf" is made possible by Goldbelly, shipping stone crabs, pizzas, birthday cakes, and more from many of America's restaurants anywhere, nationwide.

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And by Swiss International Airlines, flying to over 100 worldwide locations.

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And by YP Foundation, helping those in need through education and improving life skills, guided by the principles of good deeds, charity, and public welfare.

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And by Five Star Travel Incorporated in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Since 1985, Five Star Travel has been developing and delivering detailed itineraries for trips, cruises, and vacations to destinations around the world.

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(bright music) (bright music continues) "Travels and Traditions with Burt and Nicholas Wolf" is a classic travel journal, a record of their search for information about our world and how we fit into it.

They travel to the source of each story, trying to find the connections between our history and what is happening today.

What they discover can improve our lives and our understanding of the world around us.

(bright upbeat music) - "The Boy with a Pipe" from 1905.

Start the bidding at $55 million.

$56 million.

- [Burt] In this program, we take a look at all things art in the Palm Beaches.

Art that stands still, art that moves, art that moves in the water, and my youngest son, Nicholas, makes a valiant attempt to impress a girl with his art knowledge.

- In our last program, we looked at how the money is moving out of traditional financial hubs and here to the Palm Beaches.

Turns out, the same thing is happening with the great arts.

- [Burt] In 15th century Florence, wealth from banking transformed the Medici family into one of the most powerful patrons in history.

They funded artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Botticelli.

The same thing happened in Rome, where the growing Catholic church turned art into an expression of faith.

Saint Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and Raphael's frescoes, each one became a testament to the power of belief.

As the city of Venice prospered on trade, ships came and went, carrying goods from around the world.

The city produced Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese.

As wealth moved, so did creativity.

Paris became a center of culture through royal patronage, and later, private collectors.

Vienna, fueled by imperial wealth, gave the world Mozart, Beethoven, and Klimt.

And in London, industrial money built museums and other public treasures.

In the 20th century, the money moved again, but this time across the Atlantic.

Wall Street wealth helped turn New York City into the modern art capital of the world, giving rise to abstract expressionism and contemporary art markets.

The story repeats itself.

In the Palm Beaches, gilded age fortunes built grand homes, cultural institutions, and places like Whitehall.

Henry Flagler's wealth came from railroads and oil, but his legacy lives in art.

I started drawing when I was six years old.

When I was eight years old, my aunt started taking me to the Art Students League in New York City.

The fact that I was sitting in a room drawing a naked lady really freaked out my mother, but she dealt with it.

Then within a few months, cancer claimed my mother's life.

My father moved to Philadelphia and remarried, and I was faced with the task of supporting myself, which turned out to be a lot of fun.

I moved all my classes to the mornings and went to work as a pay stub boy at a book publisher in the afternoons.

I got a job as a waiter in a delicatessen on weekends.

I worked for Arthur Frommer, the creator of the $5 a Day travel books.

My job was to go from bookstore to bookstore in New York City and check on the stock of his books.

If they were out, I helped them get restocked.

I ended up making about $2,000 a week in today's money, wealth beyond my wildest dreams, which unfortunately no longer included becoming a painter.

But my love of art kept surfacing.

The Norton Museum of Art was founded in 1941 by Ralph Hubbard Norton and his wife Elizabeth Calhoun Norton.

Norton was an industrialist, who headed the Acme Steel Company in Chicago.

He and his wife began collecting art to decorate their home, but then Ralph became interested in art for its own sake and formed a sizable collection of paintings and sculpture.

In 1935, Mr.

Norton semi-retired and the couple began to spend more time in the Palm Beaches.

They contemplated what to do with their art collection and eventually decided to found their own museum in West Palm Beach to give South Florida its first such institution.

Their collection includes Stuart Davis's "New York Mural" and Jackson Pollock's "Night Mist," to name a few.

- Yeah, what I really love about this artwork is I feel like the brushstroke really captures the internal tensions of the time period.

She said she wanted to go to the museum and then I started talking to her about art and she just got up and walked away.

- [Burt] Art has long been a way for people to express an appreciation for the finer things in life, but like anything of value, the art world has its share of imposters and experts.

To separate enthusiasm from expertise, Nicholas met with Ghislain d'Humieres who has spent his life devoted to art education and is the director of the Norton Museum.

- Mr.

Norton wanted the museum to be in West Palm Beach because the community on the time in 1941 was only 32,000 people and it was mostly the help.

And he knew that by creating a museum there, giving his collection and building a building, he'd really make a difference to bring culture in the southern part of Florida, in the state of Florida.

- [Burt] Ghislain became interested in art and history after completing his French military service and listening to his military officer tell stories from World War II.

Since then, he has traveled around the world working for Sotheby's and Christie's, and also doing philanthropic work in many of the poorest areas on earth.

- In the last 20 years, things have been changing where a museum is a hub of creativity.

It's really a place for a dialogue between generation.

It's a safe place for difficult subject matter, and it's a place where you could learn from art and culture from around the world.

The next one I'd like to show you and talk to you will be this fabulous painting by Sargent, very famous, of course, American painter, but that is a really nice story.

It's Mrs.

Amy Phipps Guest from the Phipps family and the Guest family, and that was painted in 1905 at the time she was getting married, and the son, Alex son, is the grandson of Amy, and he's the one who gave me the portrait of his grandmother here.

Well, recently we have both Sargent were there.

We had a fabulous Hopper over there.

We had a Basquiat.

We had a Bacon was given to us.

All of these because the community or the philanthropy understand that you need to build in Florida the best collection, which will make Palm Beach and West Palm Beach the cultural capital of Florida.

- Looking at art even has the ability to help improve your mood.

Part of the research led me to a study of a hormone called cortisol.

The more cortisol in your body, the higher your stress level.

Cortisol also regulates blood pressure, how you store energy, and your immune system.

It's powerful stuff!

The invitation to the museum in London was part of an experiment, designed to see if looking at art could reduce your level of stress.

The amount of cortisol was used to measure the level of stress.

The subject's cortisol levels were tested when they arrived at the museum and when they finished walking around.

The researchers found that looking at the art significantly reduced stress levels.

- And I think it works because my producers haven't yelled at me all day long.

The Cultural Council for Palm Beach county promotes arts and culture through grants, events and public outreach.

Dave Lawrence is the President and CEO.

It's important for us to have a robust tourism campaign Because the arts are worth it.

We have world class facilities here in Palm Beach County.

Artists of extraordinary talent.

And we want the world to see all that is going on here in arts and culture in The Palm Beaches.

The arts give communities special flavor.

It gives that sort of authentic sense of place.

Arts and culture do so many things for the community.

From public education through beautifying our streetscapes.

To creating festivals and events and activities that bring families and visitors and residents together.

There's something for everybody in our arts and cultural sector and that's important for a well rounded community.

- [Burt] When most people think of great art, they think of the Louvre in Paris.

They think of oil paintings, marble statues, and people standing around in quiet rooms, trying to look like they understand what they're looking at.

- Or maybe even a $6.2 million banana duct taped to a wall.

Personally, not really my thing.

I think there's far more artistic value in a handcrafted sports fishing boat.

- [Burt] In 1947, three brothers in West Palm Beach, Johnny, Tommy, and Emil, invented the modern sport fishing yacht.

The Rybovich family are responsible for developing the enclosed flybridge outriggers, the fighting chair, and the tuna door.

- Describing a Rybovich by what it does lacks something very important.

Yes, it has everything on board you need to go out and sport fish, but unlike many other boats, it's truly a work of art.

- With any great piece of art, it is crucial to learn about the history.

So I met with Pat Rybovich.

So they were three wildly different personalities.

- Wildly, that pretty much nails it.

We've got the passionate artist, who's obsessed with his work.

He works till midnight every night, trying to build the perfect boat.

He was really obsessed with his dream of perfection.

And then we had the older brother, who was in charge of the business.

His job was to make sure that the business made a profit, that the boats were delivered on time, and he was wild about sport fishing.

And then there was a third brother, Emil, who is Michael's father, and Michael continues the boatyard legacy to this day.

So he builds custom sport fishing boats just like the family has done since 1947.

- [Burt] While I spoke with Pat, Nicholas took a tour of the shop with Michael.

- The great thing about custom boat building is it is the absolute perfect combination of art and engineering, because not only do we want to create something that's pleasing to the eye, in an artistic manner, but then we have to take that creation and we have to send it out into the ocean and shoot it across the ocean at 40 knots.

The art of it is probably what people notice the most, but when you peel back the layers of the visual art, within that is all the great engineering that goes into these things as well.

We all like to marvel at the woodwork when the boat is complete and the beautiful finished surfaces and the perfect miters and the beautiful twisting shapes throughout the entire project.

But actually, the whole thing is all about craftsmanship.

We look at these things as part of us.

There is a soul within all of them that has been created by us and the craftsmen that work on them.

And when we finish these boats and they go to sea, it's a little like watching your kid move out of the house and go off to college.

In one way, you can't wait to get that kid out of the house.

In another way, you're worried to death about that kid and how he or she is gonna do out there on their own.

Same thing with these boats.

We love them, we nurture them, we create them.

When they go off and leave us, we're worried about them.

When they come back, we're glad to see them for a short period of time, just like a kid.

(train horn wailing) - [Burt] Henry Morrison Flagler was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which made him one of the wealthiest men in America.

In 1883, Flagler's doctor advised him to spend the winter in Florida, suggesting that it might improve Mrs.

Flagler's health.

The more time Flagler spent in Florida, the more he liked it, but he was not happy with the hotel accommodations or the transportation system.

Although he stayed on the board of directors of Standard Oil, he gave up his day-to-day involvement in the company to follow up on his interests in Florida.

He built a number of hotels that met his idea of what a hotel should be.

To make it easier for his friends in the north to visit his hotels, he built the Florida East Coast railway.

It took an enormous effort to cut through the wilderness and reach the Palm Beaches.

Even then, it was difficult to drain the swamp.

He built the Palm Beach Inn.

Soon, people who were staying at the Royal Poinciana began asking for rooms near the beach, where the ocean waves were breaking on the shore.

In 1902, Flagler built a nice little place for himself and named it Whitehall.

- Whitehall was a modest wedding gift for his new wife.

These days, the 75 room mansion is called the Flagler Museum, and it's listed as a national historic landmark.

- Right now we're in the Grand Hall of Whitehall, and Whitehall really stands today as a point of origin for the town of Palm Beach.

It established the island's architectural excellence, the standard for architectural excellence, and also its social cachet.

It was an incredible privilege if you were staying at one of Henry Flagler's hotels to be invited here.

- Thanks for inviting me.

I feel great.

- We're happy to have you.

- [Burt] The theme was the ancient temple of the God Apollo, which is the subject of the painting on the ceiling.

The images were painted on canvas.

Then the canvas was hoisted up and pasted on the ceiling.

- And every aspect of the home was meant to rival the palaces of Europe.

The incredible craftsmanship that went into every inch, and no expense was spared.

At its heart, Whitehall is a Spanish style courtyard home, and you really get a feel for the indoor/outdoor lifestyle that is so emblematic of Palm Beach and South Florida in general.

- [Burt] Next to the museum is a pavilion where visitors can see Mr.

Flagler's railroad car.

It was one of the rail cars he brought to the Palm Beaches to celebrate the opening of his railroad.

- I understand that this was Mr.

Flagler's equivalent to a Gulf Stream 700.

- Yes, yes, before everyone had their own private cars or even their own private jets now, everyone traveled, the most wealthy, would travel around on their own private rail car.

This is a rolling palace.

It has mahogany paneling, it has silk upholstery.

There's hand carved, his monogram is above you.

Above his desk.

There's a sitting room in the space, there's a master bedroom.

There's two bathrooms.

There's even a shower.

And then there's a guest room essentially, where there's eight bunks that you could have.

- So I understand that Mr.

Flagler would have his Dunkin' Donuts coffee and donut over in this room, and then would move here for more fancy dinners.

- Just like that, or more so, when Henry Flagger and Mary Lily were together, and it was just the two of them having a meal, they would have all of their meals in what we call the breakfast room, or what was referred to as the breakfast room on the original plans.

But if they had invited guests, or the most important guests, more so, they would've eaten here in this dining room.

And there's so many of these Spanish influences, which goes to tell you these Mediterranean influences.

They wanted you to really feel like it was situated here.

And it wasn't necessarily about, you know, trying to make Florida something that it wasn't.

It was embracing Florida and really elevating it.

Martin Johnson Heade painted the painting behind us.

Henry Flagler commissioned it.

He was a great patron of the arts.

He actually had an artist colony up in St.

Augustine at his hotel, the Hotel Ponce de Leon.

He built out artist studios.

And so he would invite very, very talented artists to come down and paint what they were seeing.

It was a really great form of marketing.

- Just like today on social media, right?

You couldn't post about it, so you had to paint it.

- Exactly.

Exactly.

So here we are in the music room, which doubled as the art gallery, and it's named the music room, of course, because there is a 1,249 piece pipe organ behind us, but then it also has all these beautiful paintings.

It's modeled after a French opera house and it's illuminated by these incredible Caldwell New York chandeliers with Baccarat crystal.

It's just amazing.

So let's head into the South Hall.

This was the entry point into the grand ballroom.

So it's lavishly decorated.

And above us on both ends is actually an element of trompe-l'oeil.

- Ah, fool the eye.

- Exactly, exactly.

- My high school French is coming back to use.

- Yes, it very much is.

It always does in art history.

It's a painted form of architecture, you know, so it shows the depth and it shows as if a impediment was actually there.

It is not.

- Could have fooled me.

(bright music) - [Burt] Drawing exists in two dimensions.

That's a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci.

Painting exists in two dimensions.

That's a landscape by David Hockney.

Sculpture operates in three dimensions.

Also, a distinction is made between round freestanding sculpture and works that are attached to something known as a relief.

I guess it's a relief if you can lean on something.

Traditional sculptures usually just stand around, or in some cases, they just sit around.

During the past 100 years or so, a new type of sculpture has been developed.

It's called kinetic sculpture and it moves.

Kinetic sculpture has a time component, which gives it a fourth dimension.

Its movement can be the result of natural causes, like wind, or it can be caused by a motorized mechanism, or the viewer can cause the movement.

(bright music) One of the most famous artists to develop kinetic works was Albert Calder.

His mobiles are moved by wind.

For the most part, the works of Jean Tinguely are moved by motors.

And on various occasions, I was the source of energy.

These days, one of the outstanding kinetic artists is Ralfonso.

His works have been installed in Switzerland, Russia, the Netherlands, the US, and China.

- Palm Beach is our paradise, and I've come here for more than 30 years, loving every minute of it.

Boynton Beach actually is Kinetic Art City, USA.

So for people who have an interest in kinetic art and art that moves, this is the place to come and see it.

- This piece is, you know, you can touch it, you can kind of feel the beauty of it.

- Nicholas spoke with Debby Coles-Dobay.

She manages the city of Boynton Beach's Art in Public Places program.

- I'm here today to share with you Ralfonso's kinetic art.

It's an iconic sculpture that was created site specifically for the town square in 2020.

This piece in particular has, it's called "Reflections," and it has 27 bird-like wings that flow together and it depicts the community and diversity of Boynton Beach and how everybody comes together as one in this location.

It's very great, a great place for people to gather, and that's what public art does.

So it has the stainless steel, the brushed stainless steel and the polished stainless steel, it sparkles at night.

It also sparkles during the day.

So whatever sun, whatever time of the day, whatever sunsets, all reflect off of this beautiful surface of the art.

- And it's great that we picked a windy day to film this.

- Yes.

- We can see it in action.

- We have visitors that come from all over the world, so why not exhibit world class art?

Ralfonso is from Switzerland.

He creates artwork all over the world.

And to have one of his most iconic pieces here in this area, in Palm Beach County and Boynton Beach, close to the water, is a real good attraction for visitors to come and see it.

This is the Avenue of the Arts, and there's rotating artwork every year, especially for the kinetic event.

This is another piece that has intersecting areas that twirl around at different locations.

So it's supposed to represent flowers.

- [Nicholas] Kind of reminds me of a boat propeller.

(laughs) - Yeah, I mean, that's what art is beautiful because everybody sees something a little bit different in it.

(upbeat music) - [Burt] When the world feels heavy, it's easy to think of art as a luxury, but we learned from history that it's actually essential.

- There's a famous quote attributed to Winston Churchill.

During World War II, he was asked if he would cut funding to the arts in support of the war effort.

He simply replied, "Then what are we fighting for?"

- Well, that's a look at art in the Palm Beaches.

I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you will join us next time.

For "Travels and Traditions," I'm Burt Wolf.

But wait, there's more!

For daily reels featuring interviews and stories filmed during "Travels and Traditions," visit BurtNicholasWolfTV on YouTube.

(bright upbeat music) - [Announcer] "Travels and Traditions with Burt and Nicholas Wolf" is made possible by Goldbelly, shipping stone crabs, pizzas, birthday cakes, and more from many of America's restaurants anywhere, nationwide.

Goldbelly.com.

And by Swiss International Airlines, flying to over 100 worldwide locations.

Truly Swiss made.

Swiss International Airlines.

And by YP Foundation, helping those in need through education and improving life skills.

Guided by the principles of good deeds, charity, and public welfare.

YP Foundation.

And by Five Star Travel Incorporated in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Since 1985, Five Star Travel has been developing and delivering detailed itineraries for trips, cruises, and vacations to destinations around the world.

Five Star Travel Incorporated.

(gentle upbeat music)