LAKELAND, FLA.- Polk Museum of Art welcomes “Destinations in Paintings: The Kasten Collection,” an exhibition that transports viewers to different places and times, from the mid-19th century to the 20th century. “Destinations in Paintings” opened July 7 and is on view through December 6.

The paintings, from the collection of Alex and Barbara Kasten, are products of the globalization of the art world that took place with an expanding network of railroad lines and luxury liners. This revolution in international connectivity was similar in its time to the modern era of electronic media and air travel.

At that time, the center of the art world was Paris, but art schools, exhibitions and galleries also flourished in places such as London, Munich and Düsseldorf. It was also the era of world’s fairs in London, Paris, Philadelphia, Chicago and elsewhere, where visitors encountered art and other products from different countries on a grand scale for the first time.

Although their subjects and styles differed, these artists were all realists, depicting what they saw in varying degrees. Their themes catered to the middle-class patrons who enjoyed and collected recognizable scenes from modern city life, nostalgic views of the country and exotic locations.

The highlight of the assembled collection of landscape paintings is the ability to take passage to another era - from the 1860s to the 1920s - through paintings by distinguished artists from England, France, Germany and Austria. These artists featured lands and locations, sometimes humble and sometimes historical, that they frequented and loved. The 33 academic landscape paintings also interpret these unfamiliar places through a variety of techniques and artistic styles the artists used to demonstrate their artistic excitement. This exhibition was assembled by Mr. and Mrs. Kasten with the guidance of the Kurt E. Schon, Ltd. Fine Art Galleries in New Orleans.