D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A C h o pa r d c e l e b r at e d i ts 1 5 0 t h a n n i v e r s a r y a n d t h e d e b u t o f i ts a n i m a l w o r l d c o l l ec t i o n w i t h a p r i vat e pa r t y
Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele
Eugenia Silva
Among the guests: Lauren and John Veronis, Aileen Mehle, Pepe and Emilia Fanjul, Helene and Ramon Martinez, Leonard and Allison Stern, Diane Dorran Saeks, Blaine Trump, Jimmy Finkelstein and Pamela Gross, Dixon and Arriana Boardman, Antonia and Spiros Milonas, Georgette Mosbacher, Lita and George Livanos, Hilary Geary and Wilbur Ross, Maria Eugenia Maury Arria, Karen and Richard LeFrak, Peter and Dr. Karen Goulandris. The superb menu: Les Ravioles de Homard a l’Estragon (Lobster and Tarragon Ravioli), Le Filet de Boeuf Roti aux “Pommes Boulangere” (Grass-Fed Roasted Filet of Beef with 28 QUEST
Models wore Chopard jewelry and Marchesa dresses
Christina Ricci and Claire Danes
Baked Potatoes), and La Bombe Glaceé Grenouille, Café, Thes Tisanes. Also, on the same night just three blocks to the south, there was a new world record set for the most expensive artwork sold at auction: Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale earned a total of $335,548,000. The evening was highlighted by the runaway success of Pablo Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust. All this from the Collection of the late Mrs. Sidney F. Brody of Los Angeles, which sold for a record $106,482,500, breaking the previous world record for any work of art sold at auction. Among the sculptures
Georgina Chapman
John Legend
Kate Hudson and Gwyneth Paltrow
from the Brody collection: two Giacometti bronzes, Le chat, fetched $20,802,500 and Grand tete mince—the most highly prized of the artist’s busts, realized $53,282,500. A new world auction record was also set for Braque with the sale of La treille, which went for $10,162,500 (est. $3 to $5 million) and Edouard Vuillard’s early self-portrait, painted just after 1890, for $2,658,500. The Evening Sale portion of the Brody collection also became the highest total for a single-owner sale offered at Christie’s New York, surpassing the landmark sale of the Collection of Victor and Sally Ganz sale in 1997. The twenty-seven lots from the
Alexandra Richards
Brody collection achieved $224,177,500. Overall, thirty lots sold above the $1 million mark and nine lots sold above the $10 million mark. The following perfect spring day was the biggest social event of the season in New York: the annual Frederick Law Olmsted Awards Luncheon in the Conservatory Garden of Central Park at 105th Street and Fifth Avenue. This luncheon, also known as the “Central Park Conservancy Luncheon,” or more frequently these days as the Hat Luncheon, was the biggest in its now long history—1,236 guests, and from them $2.45 million, possibly a record. Thanks to the generosity of individuals,
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Natalie Cole, Marc Hruschka and Sonia Cole