Wealthy New Yorkers, including Julia Koch, whose net worth of over $81 billion makes her among the three richest women in the world, Tommy Hilfiger, Bret Baier, Hilary and Wilbur Ross, and new Norton Museum board member Kimberly Paige Bluhm and her husband Neil Bluhm were among the art connoisseurs who fled the freezing temperatures on Park and Fifth Avenues to fly to Florida for the Norton Museum of Art’s annual gala in Palm Beach. The exhibition, Art & Life in Rembrandt’s Time: Masterpieces from the Leiden Collection, coincides with the 400th anniversary of New Amsterdam’s founding on the island of present-day Manhattan. The exhibition marks Florida’s first large-scale exhibition of Rembrandt’s paintings, with over a dozen on display. Almost getting more attention than the Rembrandts were Donald Trump Jr. and his gorgeous fiancée, Bettina Anderson, seen talking to philanthropists Jean and Martin Shafiroff. Other art lovers in the room included Jane Holzer, Andrea Stark, and Beth Rudin deWoody. NYC’s Audrey Gruss, Sue Hostetler, and Josephine Kalisman were the gala’s co-chairs. norton.org
Wealthy New Yorkers, including Julia Koch, whose net worth of over $81 billion makes her among the three richest women in the world, Tommy Hilfiger, Bret Baier, Hilary and Wilbur Ross, and new Norton Museum board member Kimberly Paige Bluhm and her husband Neil Bluhm were among the art connoisseurs who fled the freezing temperatures on Park and Fifth Avenues to fly to Florida for the Norton Museum of Art’s annual gala in Palm Beach. The exhibition, Art & Life in Rembrandt’s Time: Masterpieces from the Leiden Collection, coincides with the 400th anniversary of New Amsterdam’s founding on the island of present-day Manhattan. The exhibition marks Florida’s first large-scale exhibition of Rembrandt’s paintings, with over a dozen on display. Almost getting more attention than the Rembrandts were Donald Trump Jr. and his gorgeous fiancée, Bettina Anderson, seen talking to philanthropists Jean and Martin Shafiroff. Other art lovers in the room included Jane Holzer, Andrea Stark, and Beth Rudin deWoody. NYC’s Audrey Gruss, Sue Hostetler, and Josephine Kalisman were the gala’s co-chairs. norton.org
Elliot Hightower De Niro brought his father, Robert De Niro, to see his abstract painting “Caribbean Colors” at Isabelle Bscher’s Galerie Gmurzynska at The Winter Show hosted by the Park Avenue Armory. The two-time Oscar winning actor, whose parents were both noted painters, could not hold back his paternal pride, as he asked the gallery’s photographer to take a series of photos with his son’s painting. Elliot’s, who has been diagnosed with Autism, work was being shown alongside Wifredo Lam, Roberto Matta and Majorie Strider. He sold his first work at the preview party, which benefitted the East Side House Settlement. Now the De Niros have all been invited to Bscher’s Dan Basen show, “New York Underground in the 1960s” at Galerie Gmurzynska in the Fuller Building at 595 Madison Avenue. The show will be accompanied by the first academic monograph on Basen, who tragically took his own life in 1970 at the age of 30. The artist was a major part of the 1960s art scene. Basen moved between Happenings, Nouveau Réalisme, Pop, Assemblage, and Experimental Cinema while maintaining close ties with Beat poets and American Surrealists. The show will be on view through March 31st. Isabelle met with Grace Hightower and her son about giving Elliot his own show for some of his 200 colorful abstract works this Spring to announce the founding of The Helen and Elliot Hightower De Niro Foundation, which will provide a creative safe space for neurodivergent young adults 18 and older. gmurzynska.com
Audra McDonald, six-time Tony Award winner, was the 19th annual Hope for Depression Research Foundation’s (HDRF) HOPE Luncheon honoree. Jamme and Peter Gregory, Kim Heirston, Sharon Bush, Susan Lucci, Christina and Brian Flaherty, Muffie Potter Aston, and Lousia Benton, the organization’s executive director, were among the guests. HDRF’s mission is to drive advanced neuroscience research on depression causes and prevention. Founder and Chair, Audrey Gruss, presented McDonald with the HOPE Award for Mental Health Advocacy, which McDonald accepted with a moving speech in which she shared her own experience with depression. Gruss also presented Elyse Arons, CEO of Frances Valentine, with the Hope Corporate Visionary Award for her ceaseless advocacy for depression prevention research after she lost her best friend and business partner, Kate Spade, to suicide in 2018. The luncheon commemorated the foundation’s remarkable events throughout the year, including the 10th Annual Southampton Race of Hope, the 7th Annual Palm Beach Race of Hope, and the 3rd Annual Teen Race of Hope, which helped the foundation reach $80 million total in their fundraising efforts for depression research. hopefordepression.org
Expertise.com, the highly respected media research firm, has named R. Couri Hay Creative Public Relations to their Top Picks for the Best PR Firms in New York City for the sixth year in a row.
