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CATHERINE D. ANSPON SURVEYS A SUBLIME SCENE. PHOTOGRAPHY WILSON PARISH. PC MOMENT A gem of the night was the revelation of Rothko's deep history in Houston. During his pre-dinner remarks, Tinterow noted that our first Rothko show was in 1957, when Contemporary Arts Museum Houston director Jermayne MacAgy mounted a major exhibition, which in turn ignited the de Menils' interest and sparked the conversation for the resulting Rothko Chapel commissions. ROTHKO ROCKS Museum of Fine Arts, Houston VIP Viewing for "MARK ROTHKO: A RETROSPECTIVE" CAN YOU SAY COLOR FIELD The night that commemorated the opening of "Mark Rothko: A Retrospective" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, befit a modern master. The buildup to this blockbuster (on view through January 24) was surpassed by its 60-plus resplendent canvases, most on loan from the celebrated cache owned by the National Gallery. Trustee types, curators and tony exhibition funders flocked to the Beck Building to bask in the glories of the late Mr. Rothko. A seated dinner in the Old Master galleries of the Beck followed, after remarks by MFAH man at the top Gary Tinterow, who acknowledged Alison Greene, the organizing curator for the Houston presentation of the international exhibition tour. (The MFAH is the only American venue and the final stop of the retrospective.) PAINTERLY PASSAGES Everything about the night was sublime, beginning with the show itself, which provided a visual feast as it outlined, via canvases, the progression of Rothko's arc as one of the 20th century's greatest painters, from his days as a Surrealist to his experiments in color, through his golden, mature work of the 1950s and 1960s, then into the final chapter — reductive paintings whose darkly somber power still stuns. City Kitchen went all out, with a colorful repast that nodded to Rothko's palette: chilled asparagus soup, seared salmon and a lemon semifreddo paired with raspberries and raspberry coulis. IMPORTANT PERSONAGES Contemplating canvases: the artist's son Christopher Rothko, escorting Lynn Wyatt, who is the Rothko Chapel's official ambassador; MFAH board chairman Rich Kinder and wife Nancy; Cornelia and Meredith Long; Chanel boutique director Crystal Roark, holding court at a Chanel table with top clients Ibolya Ernyey and Philip Limon, and Carol Measom and colleagues including Kiet Chu and Philippe Coissac; Mary Cullen, taking in the show with gallerist Hiram Butler; Christie's contingent Jessica Phifer, and Capera Ryan in from Dallas; Anne and Charles Duncan; Cartier's Kari Gonzales Dagley and husband John Dagley; lead corporate sponsor River Oaks District's Colin Moussa and Charlotte Johnson; exhibition underwriters Judy and Rodney Margolis; Windi Grimes; Sara Dodd; Leslie and Brad Bucher; Ann Trammell; Aliyya Stude with colleagues/Sotheby's VPs Clarissa Post and Maria Bonta de la Pezuela, in from Manhattan; Rice Gallery's Kim Davenport with photog Nash Baker; Joanna and Rusty Wortham; Blaffer director Claudia Schmuckli; Elisabeth and Brian McCabe; Ken Christie; and, in from Paris to lecture and sign books at the MFAH that weekend, the Centre Pompidou's Annie Cohen-Solal, whose new Rothko bio was applauded. NOVEMBER | PAGE 20 | 2015 Trey Griggs Blakely Griggs Emily Church Leslie Bucher Damon Parker Shay Groves Mary Cullen Hiram Butler Rosie Ramirez Brad Bucher Aliyya Stude Kari Gonzales Dagley John Dagley Laurie Morian Tina Pyne Nancy Kinder Marty Goossen Kathy Goossen Judy Margolis Gail Adler Louis Adler Rodney Margolis Catherine Masterson Alison de Lima Greene Gary Tinterow Brian McCabe Charles Duncan Charlotte Johnson Sarah O'Connor Nancy Abendshein Colin Moussa Aveyah Martin Crystal Roark Mark Rothko's Untitled, 1953, at MFAH Christopher Rothko Lynn Wyatt Gary Tinterow Katie Spicer Janet Gurwitch Mark Sullivan Deborah Kaplan Caroline Johnson Anne Duncan Elisabeth McCabe Rich Kinder Becca Duncan COLLECTION NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C., © 1998 BY KATE ROTHKO PRIZEL AND CHRISTOPHER ROTHKO