Though it may seem that Armory Week and Frieze Week get all the action, the reality is that there is never a dull moment in the New York art world. From the East Side to the West Side, there’s always something happening at the city’s museums, galleries, and various event spaces. Here’s a rundown of this week’s highlights.
Frick Young Fellows Ball at the Frick Collection
The Frick drew inspiration from its current show, “Turner’s Modern and Ancient Ports: Passages through Time,” for its “Turner by Moonlight” benefit party, sponsored by Carolina Herrera. The dress code was “luminescent black tie” (in practice, lots of midnight blue, gold, and silver). L&M Light and Sound created an atmospheric lighting scheme for the occasion, with moody projections of clouds dancing across the ceiling.
The over 600 guests included Princess Beatrice and heiress-turned-fashion designer Nicky Hilton Rothschild, who has been quite the fixture at New York City art events of late and who co-chaired the festivities along with her husband, James Rothschild, actress Emmy Rossum, Rickie De Sole, Micaela Erlanger, Amory McAndrew, and Joann Pailey.
Following cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the garden court, the elegantly attired crowd danced the night away, courtesy of DJ Allison Kinney, in the museum’s Music Room.
Nicky Hilton Rothschild at the Frick Young Fellows Ball 2017. Courtesy of Owen Hoffmann, © Patrick McMullan.
Amory McAndrew, Rickie De Sole, Carolina Herrera, and Joann Pailey at the Frick Young Fellows Ball 2017. Courtesy of Owen Hoffmann, © Patrick McMullan.
The Frick Young Fellows Ball 2017. Courtesy of Owen Hoffmann, © Patrick McMullan.
Stephanie Nass at the Frick Young Fellows Ball 2017. Courtesy of Owen Hoffmann, © Patrick McMullan.
Dinner With Georgia Release Party at La Sirena
Assouline celebrated the release of Robyn Lea’s new cookbook, Dinner With Georgia, of Georgia O’Keeffe’s recipes. The venue for the evening was the Cabanas at Mario Batali’s newest restaurant, La Sirena, a sun-filled space thematically augmented with a few cacti and a photo backdrop of the New Mexico desert.
Spotted sampling the book’s delicious recipes, which include gazpacho, steak tartare, and chocolatey brownies with a subtle chili kick, were Nicky Hilton Rothschild, Gaia Matisse, and Top Chef veteran Carla Hall. artnet News overheard Hall and Lea discussing the importance of presentation in cooking, with Lea noting that beautiful, vibrant food was in many ways an extension of O’Keeffe’s artistic practice. While she’s in town, she is planning to visit the Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition of the artist’s fashion, another outlet for O’Keeffe’s boundless creativity.
“I went to Santa Fe and I was planning to go page by page through her cookbooks, because I heard she slept with a stack of cookbooks at her bedside,” said Lea of the research that went into the project. “I arrived and they presented me with a box of her handwritten recipes that I didn’t even know existed!”
Alexandre Assouline, Robyn Lea, and Nicky Hilton Rothschild at the launch of Dinner With Georgia O’Keeffe. Courtesy of BFA.
Guests at the launch of Dinner With Georgia O’Keeffe. Courtesy of BFA.
Jodie Snyder Morel, Hilary Rhoda, and Danielle Snyder at the launch of Dinner With Georgia O’Keeffe. Courtesy of BFA.
1800 Tequila’s Essential Artist 8 Series Dinner at the Guggenheim
The Guggenheim’s newly redesigned Wright restaurant with artist Sarah Crowner’s installation of handmade Mexican tiles served as a fitting backdrop as 1800 Tequila unveiled its new Essential Artist 8 Series bottles, featuring new paintings by Enoc Perez.
Following dinner and cocktails (tequila libations from mixologist Derrick Turner), Perez spoke with New York Academy of Art president David Kratz about the new collaboration and his career, which took off, he claimed, because “I just wasn’t any good at working at an office.”
The bottles feature six of Perez’s architectural paintings, a series he began years ago, after his divorce: “I was going around the Lower East Side and getting drunk and taking pictures of girls who I thought were attractive.”
Eventually, the architecture attracted his attention, particularly in the aftermath of 9/11. It’s the perfect fit for 1800 tequila, Perez explained, because the brand’s bottle is pyramid-shaped, inspired by one of the more iconic architectural forms of all time.
Derrick Turner. Courtesy of 1800 Tequila.
David Kratz and Enoc Perez. Courtesy of 1800 Tequila.
Courtesy of 1800 Tequila.
Carlo McCormick and Enoc Perez. Courtesy of 1800 Tequila.
No Longer Empty Building Dialogue Gala
The art world headed north to the Bronx on March 21, as the Andrew Freedman Home, a retirement home-turned-cultural hub, played host to the third annual gala for No Longer Empty, which brings contemporary art to unexpected spaces. The venue had been the site of No Longer Empty’s 2012 exhibition “This Side of Paradise.”
The evening honored the art and activism of longtime Bronx Council on the Arts director Bill Aguado, now director of En Foco; gallerist Jack Shainman; artist Hank Willis Thomas; and Leesa Tabrizi, teaching artist and program coordinator at Hetrick-Martin Institute’s Open Art Studio.
Honorees Hank Willis Thomas and Jack Shainman with No Longer Empty co-founder Manon Slome at the No Longer Empty benefit. Courtesy of Whitney Browne/No Longer Empty.
Artist Margaret Rose Vendryes and PJ Gubatina Policarpio at the No Longer Empty benefit. Courtesy of Whitney Browne/No Longer Empty.
Artist Dread Scott with No Longer Empty director Carol Stakenas at the No Longer Empty benefit. Courtesy of Whitney Browne/No Longer Empty.
New York Premiere of Cezanne Et Moi at the Whitby Hotel
Fran Lebowitz, Diane von Furstenberg, and artists Marina Abramović and Chloe Wise were among those in attendance of the New York premiere of Cezanne Et Moi on March 22. Directed by Danièle Thompson, the French-language movie tells the story of the friendship between post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne, played by Guillaume Gallienne, and the writer Émile Zola, played by Guillaume Canet.
Diane von Furstenberg at the New York premiere of Cezanne Et Moi at the Whitby Hotel. Courtesy of Jimi Celeste, ©Patrick McMullan.
Marina Abramovic at the New York premiere of Cezanne Et Moi at the Whitby Hotel. Courtesy of Jimi Celeste, ©Patrick McMullan.
Daniel Lundstrom and Chloe Wise at the New York premiere of Cezanne Et Moi at the Whitby Hotel. Courtesy of Jimi Celeste, ©Patrick McMullan.
Fran Lebowitz at the New York premiere of Cezanne Et Moi at the Whitby Hotel. Courtesy of Jimi Celeste, ©Patrick McMullan.
Venetian Night Gala at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy
On March 22, the French Embassy held a benefit to help fund the conservation of its famed Venetian Room. Completed in 1906 as the final project of famed architect Stanford White, the Venetian Room was the gem of the Gilded Age mansion of Payne Whitney and Helen Hay Whitney. It was dismantled upon Hay Whitney’s death in 1949 and placed in storage, but was reinstalled by the French-American Foundation in 1997.
The gala’s festivities included cocktail reception with Murano glass demonstrations by artist Lilla Tabasso and a performance by harpist Melanie Genin, followed by dinner from chef Michael White and a masquerade after party.
Guests at the Venetian Night Gala. Courtesy of the French Embassy.
Guests at the Venetian Night Gala. Courtesy of the French Embassy.
The Venetian Room. Courtesy of the French Embassy.