Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/112444
Magritte-an Moments: The Menil���s Milestone 25th CATHERINE D. ANSPON REPORTS FROM UNDER THE SPLENDID, CERULEAN TENT. PHOTOGRAPHY JENNY ANTILL. The Palette Almine RuizPicasso Take a broad and surreal social canvas. Add a soup��on of Pop-art moments. Stir in an extraordinary dose of performance, flavored by glitterati from around the globe and our own illustrious art set. There you have the mise en sc��ne from a night edged in Yves Klein blue ��� The Menil Collection���s fabled 25th anniversary gala. For true and extraordinary tales from inside the hallowed Renzo Piano-designed walls, under the cerulean tent and alongside the art-studded auction tables, read on. Ransom Lummis Bernard RuizPicasso Co-chair Karen Pinson Conrad de Menil Francois de Menil Co-chair Isabel Lummis Lynn Wyatt Sophie de Menil Co-chair Susan de Menil Elsian Cozens Gary Tinterow John Moore Christopher Gardner Ashton Hawkins Vance Muse Becca Cason Thrash ERIC HESTER Mary Ellen Carroll Hamish Bowles Toby Kamps Celebration in Blue Sissy Farenthold Liana Yaroslavsky Co-chair Franci Crane Heiner Friedrich Masterpiece Party 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 ��� Requiem (RE20), a threedimensional work comprised of sponges, pebbles and dry pigment in the hue known forever more as International Klein Blue. Janet Moore Art-Royal Quintet Lois de Menil Ben de Menil Four powerhouse Houstonians and one wellconnected New Yorker �����whose name ends in de Menil ��� presided over this spring���s Menil Collection gala, a decidedly non-annual f��te, and one that will never be repeated, as it marked the milestone of the jewel-box, worldrenowned museum���s first quarter century. Chairing this sublime evening were the lyrical quintet of Franci Crane, Sara DoddSpickelmier, Isabel Lummis, Susan de Menil, and Karen Pinson. They were joined by their respective spouses, Jim Crane, Keith Spickelmier, Ransom Lummis, Francois de Menil, and Harry Pinson; as well as the Swiss-born Menil director Josef Helfenstein and wife Dorothee and board chairman Louisa Stude Sarofim. The latter read greetings by the honorary chairs in absentia, Ambassador of France Fran��ois Delattre, Schlumberger CEO Paal Kibsgaard, and the immortal artist Jasper Johns. Michael Linn Frances Marzio Dorothee Helfenstein Josef Helfenstein Russell Joseph Andee Friedrich Stephen Newton Elise Joseph Surrealism Reigns J.B. Fairbanks Co-chair Sara DoddSpickelmier Gordon Veneklasen Betty Newton Marita Fairbanks Aziz Friedrich Mel Chin Keith Spickelmier Allison Sarofim Joa Baldinger Friedrich The gala���s clever art touches began with the aura of being immersed inside Yves Klein���s masterwork, a spell cast by the ghostly blue illuminated tent devised by Houston artist Brooke Stroud, along with Bergner and Johnson, who created a space both celestial and undersea-like. And what would a night at the Menil be without a nod to Surrealism ��� including the Jackson and Company seated dinner, with its Magritte-inspired perfect green, sculptural apples filled with Waldorf salad. We also loved the brigade of guests donning bowlers, led by Jeff Beauchamp, in honor of his late wife, Toni, an arts leader who adored dressing up in attire commensurate with the occasion.