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CURATORIAL EYE Keeping with minimalist enchantment of this ball, tables were limited to a concise number, rather than crowding Cullinan and pushing other guests to the perceived-to-be-second-rung spaces of Upper Brown. An intimate crowd of 320 heavy-hitters settled into prime seats, as the fund-raising goal of $1.65 million had already been exceeded — a tribute to Marzio's esteem among the trustees; there was no need to sell 100 more gala tickets. City Kitchen provided the epicurean dinner delicacies, bowing to the classics, interjected with modern notes: jumbo lump crab salad paired with black truffle and charred lemon, coriander–spiced osso bucco and sorbet trio with gooseberry coulis, plus appropriate wine pairings. Exquisite touches were the orchid centerpieces by Scott McCool's In Bloom and the deft performance of the David Caceres Orchestra, which set the stage for dancing that followed the repast, as the grandees gracefully gyrated to the swaying Steinkamp arbols. CATHERINE D. ANSPON REPORTS ON A VERY AVANT-GARDE NIGHT. PHOTOGRAPHY JENNY ANTILL, WILSON PARISH. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's million-dollar Grand Gala Ball embraces the cool and cutting-edge. THE TREES ARE ALIVE PHILANTHROPIC FOREST Glamorous in the glade: MFAH director Gary Tinterow and Christopher Gardner; principal underwriter Northern Trust's Colter Lewis and wife Elizabeth; museum board chair Rich Kinder and wife Nancy; Bayou Bend benefactress Jeanie Kilroy Wilson and Wally Wilson; Anne and Charles Duncan; the Craft Center's Sara and Bill Morgan; contemporary and Latin American collectors Leslie and Brad Bucher; Susanne and Bill Pritchard (who would later host the CAMH's Another Great Night); Bobbie and John Nau (as in the new Nau history center, now in progress); powerhouse dealer Meredith Long with wife/former board chair Cornelia and daughter Martha Long, accompanied by Sean Wade; American 19th-century collector Frank Hevrdejs and wife Michelle; Elizabeth and Barry Young; Susan Krohn with fiancé Fayez Sarofim and daughter and son-in-law Lori and Phillip Sarofim; Jay Jones and Terry Wayne Jones; Diane Lokey Farb with Mark Sullivan; Linda and Walter McReynolds; Sima Ladjevardian in a chat with Rania Daniel and daughter Daria Daniel; Joanne King Herring on the arm of Jim Nelson; Karen and Mel Payne, who always cut a rug on the dance floor; H-E-B's Charles Butt; Marli Andrade and Alfred Glassell III (as in the Glassell School and the Glassell Gold Collection, both among the MFAH's greatest treasures); Janice and Bob McNair; Rolanette and Berdon Lawrence; Judy and Rodney Margolis; Macey and Harry Reasoner; contemporary collectors Barbara and Michael Gamson; Gail and Louis Adler; Kathy and Marty Goossen; and Alice and Keith Mosing. The deconstructed, extraordinarily successful evening was the perfect bookend to the ball Marzio's late husband/MFAH director, Peter Marzio, most memorably chaired in 2009. Subliminally, this soirée underscored the transformational role this couple has played at the museum. AN ODE TO FOUR SEASONS We've had ancient Egypt, Indian splendors, Deco grandeur and an epic Frank Stella painting as inspiration. But this year, Frances Marzio, chairman of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's Grand Gala Ball, departed from expectation — and selected one of the most futuristic art pieces in the collection as motif. Instead of making the mummies dance or going with a Greco-Roman fête as one would expect, the MFAH curatorial authority on ancient art took the museum's video projection by Jennifer Steinkamp as her point of departure. MFAH modern and contemporary curator Alison Greene collaborated in securing the loan of an additional five video trees from the artist to complete the 20-foot-tall grove, which made for an ethereal backdrop in the vast, understated expanse of the Law Building's Cullinan Hall. The sextet of digital trees from Steinkamp's series (dedicated to the late L.A. artist Mike Kelley) wafted and waved on the walls while progressing in a loop through the myriad stages of the seasons, 11 minutes per cycle. THE DARKER THE AMBIENT LIGHT THE SHARPER THE [STEINKAMP VIDEO] IMAGES BECAME, SO WE CREATED A TWILIGHT BALL. THE UNINTENTIONAL BENEFIT WAS THAT ALL THE GUESTS LOOKED THEIR BEST. — Chairman Frances Marzio " " DECEMBER | PAGE 10 | 2014 Rania Daniel Daria Daniel Sima Ladjevardian Russell Joseph Elise Joseph Lynn Wyatt Colter Lewis Gary Tinterow Jeanie Kilroy Wilson Wally Wilson Fayez Sarofim Beau Miller Chairman Frances Marzio Patrick Summers Cornelia Long Lester Smith Sue Smith Meredith Long Rolanette Lawrence Bill Pritchard Jessica Phifer Butch Abendshein Kathryn Oswald Erich Oswald Nancy Abendshein Karen Payne Mel Payne Michelle Hevrdejs Frank Hevrdejs Susanne Pritchard Linda McReynolds Walter McReynolds Dani Sanchez Manolo Sanchez Sandy Parkerson Nancy Kinder Sean Wade Susan Krohn Aliyya Stude Kirby McCool Martha Long Elyse Lanier Phoebe Tudor Bobby Tudor Scott McCool Pat Breen Rich Kinder Mise en scène