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The biggest ticket in town12/11/2012 12:49Published on New York Social Diary (http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com)The biggest ticket in townRooftop activity. 2:30 PM. Photo: JH.Wednesday, March 2, 2011. Bright, sunny late winter’s day in New York.Last night at the Park Avenue Armory was the Preview Evening benefiting theHenry Street Settlement of the 23rd Annual Art Show which opens to the publictoday at noon, and runs through this Sunday coming.The biggest ticket (don’t know the price but assume it was four figures) startedarriving at 5:30. By 7:30 when I arrived (press ticket), there were hundreds, maybe acouple of thousand – the Park Avenue Armory is vast – milling about taking in thecreative splendor.http://newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1905436/printPage 1 of 8

The biggest ticket in town12/11/2012 12:49This is the beginning of Art Week in New York. MoMA has something tonight. TheArmory Show opens tomorrow at Piers 92 and 94 with booths of more than 200galleries, as well as Gallery Shows all over town. People are arriving from all overthe world this week. Before it is over, tens, possibly hundreds of millions of dollarsin contemporary art will have changed hands here in New York.Looking across the entrance corridor to the aisles of galleries at last night's Previewbenefit of the AADA Art Show at the Park Avenue ArmoryI went last night with my friend, Mr. Art Set, Charlie Scheips, who always hassomething interesting to point out, and someone interesting whom he knows. Theplace was filled with collectors, dealers and New Yorkers interested in the scene(and being a part of it). The silver trays bearing flutes of champagne wereomnipresent from the entrance on in. The canapé tables were in steady supply ofirresistible bits to gnosh on (elegantly of course).And the art ... was just fabulous. Fabulous to be surrounded by, if nothing else. Allkinds of beautiful pieces, pictures, sculptures. The Newhouse Gallery, for example,had a small bronze Rodin head of Balzac that obviously was the preparation of themaster’s epochal portrait of the master storyteller that stands godlike just inside fromthe garden at MoMA. I didn’t ask the price, agreeing with Pierpont Morgan whofamously said if you have to ask you can’t afford it. Someone will and can.http://newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1905436/printPage 2 of 8

The biggest ticket in townfamously said if you have to ask you can’t afford it. Someone will and can.12/11/2012 12:49Upon entering -- across the way -- an exhibition of Alice Neel portraits.Evenings like this now provoke a frequent comment from those attending: things aregetting better. There are two explanations other than the obvious (people like tocollect). One is that those who can afford to are looking for places to put theirmoney and Art is one of those places (especially Contemporary Art — althoughsomeone told me last night that Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst are both buying OldMasters these days).Another explanation is that people (who can afford it) are feeling more optimisticabout the state of the economy and spending once again. Whatever the reason, theexcitement last night was palpable and frankly, its own kind of palliative — apleasure to be around (even for this “poor” writer). Everything is enhanced in thiskind of atmosphere including even the art itself.There were big spenders there last night also. I know of one well known collectorwho moved through the aisles with alacrity and made a number of big ticketacquisitions.http://newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1905436/printPage 3 of 8

The biggest ticket in town12/11/2012 12:49Liz Peek and Adam Weinberg.Jay Diamond and Alexandra Lebenthalwho are celebrating their 20th anniversaryof wedded bliss today.http://newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1905436/printPage 4 of 8

The biggest ticket in town12/11/2012 12:49Craig Starr, Beth DeWoody, and GeorgeFarias.Colette.Meanwhile, if you want spend an afternoon in a wonderful place, out of the rain andthe the wind and into a cornucopia of the creative mind and spirit, for twenty bucks– get yourself over to the Park Avenue Armory. Bring a date or a mate or a friend.You can get also refresh your appetite and thirst as well from time to time, andotherwise spend a few hours taking in the sheer treasure trove beautifully presented.The dealers are in a good mood too, which will make your visit even more apleasure.Jill Krementz is covering this Art Fair for NYSD, so you’ll get to see moretomorrow.http://newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1905436/printPage 5 of 8

The biggest ticket in town12/11/2012 12:49Amy Morken.Afterwards Charlie and I walked up the avenue to the apartment of FernandaKellogg and Kirk Henckels where Fernanda’s daughter, also Fernanda (Gilligan)was hosting a pre-Armory Show cocktail party for a few score friends. TheKellogg/Henckel apartment is one of those human scale grand apartments that wentup in New York in the late 1920s and early 1930s along Park Avenue that have keptits classic elegance. It’s fun to attend a cocktail party in such surroundings, brightand spacious in a way that puts a guest at ease.The crowd was mainly 20- and 30-something. Fernanda Gilligan has been living inLondon for the past couple of years and is developing a profession in the art world.Last night at the party, she exhibited four works by a young artist by the name ofAmy Morken. I first saw one of them on the invitation Fernanda sent out. Morken’sfigures grab your eye with the color and human shapes as if in a Cirque de Soleil.But then they become quietly startling. You might even turn away. Or not.The artist is married to a Mr. Flynn with whom she has a son, and lives here in NewYork. She has a modest, polite, almost self-effacing manner in conversation. But herart has its opposite. She is intriguing like her art, and her humor.http://newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1905436/printPage 6 of 8

The biggest ticket in town12/11/2012 12:49Departing the cocktail, we went around the corner to ... where else ... at nine pm,hungry and no reservation ... but Swifty’s. Swifty’s was packed too. In the backroom there was a birthday dinner being given by Eva Mohr for her husbandStanley. There were two tables of guests including some familiar faces – Bob andBarbara Taylor Bradford, Ellen and Chuck Scarborough, Pat Kluge, DickMorris; Frank and Kathy Lee Gifford and Regis Francis Xavier Philbin and hisJoy. At a table nearby Gale Hayman and Dr. Richard Bockman were entertainingfriends, including Christy Ferer and Shirley Lord Rosenthal, as were Jim andZibby Tozer at another table, and David and Lisa Schiff and Cynthia Boardmanat another; and at another Bunty and Tom Armstrong. It was one of those nightswhere there were cross conversations of tables in what is basically a small, cozyroom; one of those moments where the metropolis seems like a small town.Enter your email address below to subscribe to NYSD's newsletter. It's free!Email:Comments? Contact DPC here. [1]http://newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1905436/printPage 7 of 8

The biggest ticket in town12/11/2012 12:49Source URL:http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1905436Links:[1] mailto:dpc@newyorksocialdiary.comhttp://newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1905436/printPage 8 of 8