Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/112444
Mark Sullivan Diane Lokey Farb How many soir��es are sparked by a single work of art? Only one we know of: the Menil���s 25th f��te, which took its party theme, Celebration in Blue, from an otherworldly Yves Klein painting dated 1960 in the museum���s permanent collection. Stephanie Walker Louisa Stude Sarofim Michael Zilkha Dan Breen Beatrix Medinger Marcy Taub Wessel Silent-Auction Extraordinaire We also feasted on once-in-a-lifetime auction lots, from a Jim Love sculpture of a child���s jack (a smaller version of the mammoth one that graces the museum���s campus), which went to Heidi and David Gerger, to a moving watercolor by Houston artist David McGee entitled Rothko in Black and Mel Chin���s strange intervention into a 1930s portrait of a young Polish man painted by M. Svjatik. But can you guess who acquired the most show-stopping lot ��� Maurizio Cattelan���s startling Untitled, depicting a hyper-real polyurethane hand, with all fingers cut off, except the middle one? Cattelan���s middle-fingered salute went to Lester Marks, aka the Art Prince, there with wife Penelope, but only after a fierce bidding war for said hand with Michael Zilkha. Bill Caudell Janet Hobby Marilyn Oshman Harry Cullen Eileen Guggenheim Reggie Smith Leigh Smith Greg Fourticq Jr. Picasso Progeny and Mr. Bowles in the House Andrew Echols Mathew Wolf Kelly Silvers Alex Papachristidis Ann Wolf Adelaide de Menil Carpenter Rachel Hovnanian Peg Lee Remarkable Personages The night was marked by an amazing contingent of la famille de Menil, beginning with the aforementioned Susan and Francois de Menil ��� she, one of the co-chairs, and he, one of Dominique and John de Menil���s children and an acclaimed architect. The couple was joined by Francois��� brother Georges de Menil and wife Lois and sisters Adelaide de Menil Carpenter and Fariha Friedrich Karimnia, as well as nephews Ben de Menil and Aziz Friedrich (both Menil trustees), niece Duha Friedrich, and legendary art dealer Heiner Friedrich, former husband of Philippa de Menil and DIA co-founder, who cut a dashing figure and was my personal favorite important art personage in for the festivities. While I was enchanted at meeting Monsieur Friedrich, the arrival of honorary chairmen Almine and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso ��� a distinguished couple indeed, in from Belgium ��� also drew gasps; Ruiz-Picasso is the grandson of the epic modern master whose oeuvre in blackand-white gets its day this month at the MFAH. Also enlivening the evening was Vogue���s international editor at large, the very witty, dapper and dandy Hamish Bowles, who sported a mammoth dahlia corsage by Rochas on his lapel. Other out-of-town notables included Emily Pulitzer, Caroline Huber Hopps (wife of late founding Menil director Walter Hopps), Suzanne Deal Booth (benefactress of Rice University���s Turrell Skyspace) with husband David, and jet-setter Allison Sarofim. Harry Pinson David Warren Penelope Marks Laurel Pinson Lester Marks Janie C. Lee Pat Breen Guy Jennings Tierney Malone Adrien Meyer Jessica Phifer In the Blue: A Multi-Million $ F��te While it seems crass to talk about commerce vis-��-vis the Menil, Celebration in Blue yielded an over-the-top result for the museum���s coffers: nearly $3 million, of which $2.2 million came from ticket and table sales, and the remaining $600,000 from the stupendous silent-auction art lots, making this among the top charity galas for 2012 in Texas. And for more on the Menil Contemporaries soulful Bleu ��lectrique revelry the following eve, which added another $100,000 plus to the 25th anniversary fund-raising efforts, peruse April���s edition of PaperCity.