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CATHERINE D. ANSPON PENS THE RECAP. PHOTOGRAPHY JENNY ANTILL, WILSON PARISH. Where the Girls and Boys Are — And Never The Twain Shall Meet Contemporary Arts Museum Houston's Fierce Femmes Fête + Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's Million-Dollar Night with the Gents MARCH | PAGE 10 | 2014 Lovelies Loving Louis at Maison Havens I t was a Francophile's dream when the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston tapped trois co-chairs Francine Ballard, Elizabeth Satel Young and Isabel David to curate Another Great Night in November, which was rechristened Une Autre Grande Nuit en Novembre to honor its stately historic venue and coveted art-centric Gallic luxury sponsor. Host Terri Havens welcomed 250 revelers to the Staub-designed circa-1920s château she shares with husband John, who was a few miles away at One Great Night in November, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's notorious gentleman's smoker. More on that scene later. Popping in to greet the gal squad was CAMH director Bill Arning, who posed for a photo op with senior curator Valerie Cassel Oliver before speeding away. Louis Vuitton amped up the glam factor even higher with a spectacular two-part reveal: the LV Spring/Summer 2014 Cruise collection, worn by models arrayed on the Havens' magnificent staircase, and the Spring/ Summer 2014 Icons collection (inspired by French architect/designer and lenslady Charlotte Perriand) flaunted in an all-out runway show during dinner. Party planner extraordinaire Rebekah Johnson improvised a tented wonderland on the estate's back lawn, with panels channeling French architectural renderings, chandeliers dripping with crystals, candlelight and profuse peonies, hydrangeas and roses. City Kitchen provided the seated culinary repast that began with petit croque monsieur, segued into poulet rôti au fenouil, and finished with tarte tatin. The bottom line: a très magnifique $210,000 for the coffers of the cutting-edge CAMH, which celebrates 65 years with its 2013-2014 season. Trivia and Treasure H ow would you have fared in the eagerly contested scavenger hunt? The much-ballyhooed party game saw guests dashing through the Havens' home to sleuth out clues to clever categories filled with arcane, tantalizing facts, from The French Connection to Louis Louis and the CAMH@65. (Who knew that Louis Armstrong signed his letters "Red Beans and Ricely Yours"?) The lucky table, which won its own LV private shopping spree, brimmed with these 10 art-smart ladies: Lucia Benton, Susie Criner, Marita Fairbanks, Page Kempner, Sissy Kempner, Marley Lott, Evelyn Nolen, Jessica Phifer, Susanne Pritchard, and Beverly Robinson. Big Boys, Big Bucks, Important Art T hat same night, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, pulled out all the stops on the 30th anniversary of the evening that launched it all: One Great Night in November. Some 362 gents filled Cullinan Hall to vote on 19 artworks to join the MFAH permanent collection — acquiring offerings across the centuries and spanning civilizations, from a circa-850 BC bronze Urartu helmut to American artist Matthias Merkel Hess' Gott 5 Gallon Gas Can, rendered in porcelain. They raised beaucoup bucks ($1.4 million, to be precise) while savoring a City Kitchen seated dinner paired with Chateau Saint-Pierre and Chateau Gloria red wine, puffing Davidoff cigars and sipping Balvenie Scotch. Among the august and notable: board chair Rich Kinder, grand underwriter Cadence Bank's Paul Murphy, and major underwriters including Meredith Long, Jim Flores, Bill Hill, C. Berdon Lawrence, Alfred Glassell III, Bob McNair, Ralph Eads, and Jeff Hildebrand; alongside tony attendees such as Tony Petrello, Holbrook Dorn, Mike Linn, and Lenoir Josey. Wally Wilson Gary Tinterow Bill Hill Rich Kinder Meredith Long Reed Morian Les Ballard Bill Wheless Charles Duncan Jr. Charles Duncan III Nicholas Silvers Paul Murphy Lucinda Loya Divya Brown Janae Tsai Judith Oudt Caroline Dannenbaum Host Terri Havens Kristin Johnson Allison Thacker Kristy Bradshaw Stephanie Cockrell Bill Arning Valerie Cassel Oliver Jo Furr Co-chair Elizabeth Satel Young Co-chair Francine Ballard Luvi Wheelock Becca Cason Thrash Kelli Blanton Diane Lokey Farb Mary D'Andrea Barbara Gamson Co-chair Isabel David Marita Fairbanks Stephanie Brown Erin Furr Stimming Liz Glanville Elisabeth McCabe Caroline Finkelstein Kirby McCool Leslie Ballard Hull Heidi Smith