NEW YORK-OCTOBER 19: THE FRICK COLLECTION AUTUMN DINNER Honoring PHILIPPE DE MONTEBELLO on Monday, October 19, 2009 at The Frick Collection, NYC, 1 East 70th Street New York, NY 10021. Proceeds of the Frick Autumn Dinner will support the full range of programs of The Frick Collection, including educational and curatorial initiatives, and the Frick Art Reference Library. The Autumn Dinner plays a unique role in the social landscape of New York and is a much anticipated highlight of The Frick Collection's social and fund-raising calendar. Each year, it attracts those who appreciate the significance of the Frick’s contribution to the life of the city and the greater international cultural community. This year’s black-tie dinner honored Philippe de Montebello, one of the world’s most influential and widely admired cultural leaders, who was the longest-serving director in the history of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Frick Collection paid tribute to this consummate museum director whose vision and dedication to the field will continue to inspire the next generation of museum professionals. The evening commenced with cocktails in the Garden Court. At the same time, the remarkable permanent collection galleries were open as well as the fall special exhibitions: Watteau to Degas: French Drawings from the Frits Lugt Collection (downstairs galleries), and in the Cabinet, the first presentation by the Frick’s new (and first ever!) Associate Curator of Decorative Arts, Charlotte Vignon: ExuberantGrotesques: Renaissance Maiolica from the Fontana Workshop Benefit Chairmen: Margot and Jerry Bogert, Agnes Gund, and J. Tomilson Hill Benefactors: Mrs. Stephen M. Kellen, Paul Singer Patrons: The Bank of New York Mellon, John and Constance Birkelund, Mr. and Mrs. Walter A. Eberstadt, Mrs. Henry Clay Frick II, Mr. and Mrs. Franklin W. Hobbs, Pat and John Rosenwald, Sotheby’s, and Aso O. Tavitian. Benefit Committee included: Cetie Nippert Ames and Anthony Ames, Peter and Sofia Blanchard, Mr. and Mrs. I. Townsend Burden III, Mark and Susan Dalton, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin H. Davidson, Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Davis, Mr. and Mrs. Jean-Marie Eveillard, Elise D. Frick and John A. Garraty, Michael and Mary Gellert, Gail and Peter Goltra, Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Hoerle, Thomas L. Kempner, Jr., Leon Levy Foundation, Lucia Woods, Lindley and Daniel A. Lindley, Arthur L. Loeb, Anne and John Marion, Mrs. and Mrs. Jeremiah Milbank III, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Phipps, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Royce, Louisa Stude Sarofim, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen A. Schwarzman, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley DeForest Scott, Melvin R. Seiden and Janine Luke, Mrs. Suzette de Marigny Smith, Beatrice Stern, and Mr. and Mrs. Eugene V. Thaw About the Honoree: During his thirty-one-year tenure at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, that institution’s collections and programs flourished: the museum acquired significant collections and individual masterpieces, mounted acclaimed international loan exhibitions, developed wide-reaching educational programs, vastly increased its exhibition space, and reinstalled much of its permanent collection in new or refurbished galleries. Last fall, the curators of the institution paid tribute to Mr. de Montebello by mounting an unprecedented exhibition of some 300 major works that entered the collection under his leadership, The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions. In 2008, Mr. de Montebello joined the board of trustees of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and became the first scholar in residence at the Museo del Prado in Madrid. This fall he became the first Fiske Kimball Professor in the History and Culture of Museums at the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University and a special adviser for NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus. He serves as special adviser to the Leon Levy Foundation, and, with Paula Zahn, is co-host of WNET/Channel 13’s weekly culture series SundayArts. He continues to lecture throughout the world on art, museums, and other cultural matters. PHOTO CREDIT: ©Manhattan Society.com 2009 by Gregory Partanio | tel: 718.614.7740 |e-mail: GregPartanio@aol.com