2.8.12: New York to Palm Beach to San Francisco

New York to Palm Beach to San Francisco

Roric Tobin, Muna Rihani Al-Nasser, Geoffrey Bradfield

French Heritage Society kicked off its 2012 Cultural Season with a private viewing of Le Cabinet de Curiosités.

On Thursday, January 26th, French Heritage Society’s (FHS) New York Chapter kicked off its 2012 Cultural Season with a private curator-led viewing of Le Cabinet de Curiosités, an installation conceived by Thierry W. Despont and presented by Marlborough and Steinitz galleries. The event, organized by FHS’s New York Chapter Co-Chairmen Guy N. Robinson and Odile de Schiétère-Longchampt, was an opportunity for the New York contingency of FHS to meet its new Cultural Chairman, author and historian, David Garrard Lowe. Lowe will be giving the first lecture of the NY Chapter’s inaugural series “Living Heritage” at the French Consulate in New York on February 16.

Thierry W. Despont addresses the guests

Le Cabinet de Curiosités is a unique, off-site installation in which contemporary art converges with 18th- and 19th-Century antiquities in a setting that blurs the confines of time and categorization. Le Cabinet de Curiosités, conceived and curated by Thierry W Despont, is located in the former headquarters of New York Mercantile Exchange at 6 Harrison Street. The exhibition presents work by Marlborough artists Thierry W. Despont, Manolo Valdés and the late Claudio Bravo, as well as rare antique furniture from the Steinitz Collection.

On Thursday night, Lowe led the question and answer session with Thierry Despont who told the crowd of about 80 guests that the installation is an “artists dream” and he is obsessed with the idea of creating a Cabinet de Curiosités which to him is like a “natural history museum of a dreamworld.”

Scenes from Le Cabinet de Curiosités

Among the guests were: Thomas Abad and Alex Barlow, Jean-Pierre and Michele Altier, Mariam Azarm, Sylvie Beljanski, Veronique Bich, CeCe Black, Antoinette Botarelli, Anna Bulgari, Sharon Bush, Patricia Cossutta, Elisabeth Cros, Zita Davisson, Frederic De Narp, Alex and Kate Donner, Charles Dorkey, Simone Galton, Lou Hammond and Ann Sonet, Caroline Holden, Helen King, Imssey Klebe, Denis and Diony Lebot, Silvina Leone, President of Marlborough Gallery Pierre Levai, Michel Longchampt, Alain and Anne Louvel, Polly Lyman, Maguy Maccario-Doyle, Farah Moinian, Paul Stuart Rankin, Peter and Barbara Regna, Lucette de Rugy, George Sape, Jackie Schneider, Stanley DeForest and Elizabeth Scott, Marion Selig, Martin and Jean Shafiroff, Caroline Stuart, Rebecca Tilles, Gayle Tilles, and Frank and Victoria Wyman.

Le Cabinet de Curiosités is open to the public Tuesday through Thursday, 11am – 5pm, through the end of February.

French Heritage Society was founded in 1982 as a two way street for Americans and French to share their love of historic architecture. FHS has contributed to almost 500 restoration grants and helped secure almost $18 million dollars for historic monuments, buildings and gardens in every department in France and to properties in the United States that reflect France’s historic influence. FHS has intervened after numerous natural disasters such as the 1999 storms in France and Hurricanes Hugo and Katrina in the U.S. FHS has also organized over 300 unique student internship opportunities in both countries and offers enriching cultural trips in France and the U.S. for its members. There are 13 Chapters in the United States and 1 in Paris.

Guy Robinson, Thierry W. Despont, Odile de Schiétère-Longchampt, and Michael Polsky

Michael and Tanya Polsky

Charlotte Moss and Odile de Schiétère-Longchampt

Hans Apostel, Baroness Veronique Bich, Victoria Wyman, and Mariam Azarm

David Garrard Lowe and Linda Zagaria

Ann Sonet and Lou Hammond

Maggie Souzzi and Peter Saalfield

Arthur Matuszewski and Cezarv Dabrowski

Barbara Regna, Peter Regna, and CeCe Black

Jeanne Shafiroff, Frederic de Narp, Odile de Schiétère-Longchampt, and Guy Robinson

Zita Davisson and Reverand John C. Smith

Charles Dorkey

Laura Feinstein and Christopher Koulouris

Imssy Klebe and Michel Longchampt

Anna Bulgari and Jackie Schneider

Polly Lyman

Sylvie Beljanski, Simone Gatton, and Michele Altier

Helen King and Elizabeth Scott

Michael and Tanya Polsky

Stephen Wheelock, Evelyn Crescimanni, and Paul Stuart Rankin

Jean Pierre and Michele Altier

Johanna Barger and Maggie Souzzi

Montgomery Frazier and Lynette Dallas

Hans Apostel and Mariam Azarm

Stephanie Murg and Marc Kristal

Jonathan Olsen, Mary Kantor, Adrienne Kantor, and Robert Kantor

Caroline Stuart, Alex Donner, and Kate Edmonds DOnner

Helen King and Frank Wyman

MY INHERITANCE hosted a Kiss Kiss book signing with author/photographer extraordinaire Patrick McMullan to benefit the Coalition for the Homeless, last Saturday night in Huntington, Long Island.

Patrick McMullan

Mary Fuschillo, Lauren Fuschillo, Joyce Diamond, Susan McDonald, Pat Zuppello, Lauren Parisi, and Eileen Antonucci

Adrienne Wood and Joyce Diamond

Dianne Vavra and Marina Kanes

Emily and Janice Shea

Anthony and Eileen Antonucci

Brittany Salese

Sharon and Tony Shalinski

Katherine Emlock and Alyssa Salese

Patrick McMullan and Michael Fagan

Tristan Maricondo

Lauren Fuschillo, Joanne Pepe, and Mary Fuschillo

Jeff Maricondo, Tristan Maricondo, and Melissa Maricondo

Lauren Buckley and Lexi Cassidy

Lauren Parisi

Alanna Shalinski

Dianne Vavra and Kathy Hin

Melissa and Tristan Maricondo

Jennifer Cassar and Kathy Hin

Saks Fifth Avenue in Palm Beach recently honored Lighthouse International and the 2012 Chairman and Committee for the upcoming fifth annual POSH Palm Beach dinner dance and POSH sale. The cocktail reception in the store's Designer Salon featured informal modeling of the latest looks from its stable of new and exclusive designers that included Celine, Vionnet, J. Mendel, Giambattista Valli, Marni, Prada, and Dolce & Gabanna.

Saks Fifth Avenue's assistant General Manager Toreh Barami welcomed the guests and introduced Mark G. Ackermann, Lighthouse International's CEO, who came from New York especially for the event. He thanked the guests for their support and congratulated Melinda Porter, the Director of Operations and POSH sale coordinator, on her upcoming nuptials, and introduced her successor, Carol Anne Stiglmeier.

Carol Anne Stiglmeier and Nancy Paul

Nadine Kalachnikoff and Arlene Dahl

Arlene Dahl, who is serving as the honorary chairman of POSH Palm Beach events, also conveyed her gratitude for everyone's support.

POSH Palm Beach returns to Palm Beach for its fifth year with an exciting line up of activities, including the highly anticipated POSH Palm Beach sale in February. On February 22, 2012, a black-tie gala dinner dance will be held at Club Colette, and those who attend the gala will be treated to sneak peak of the POSH sale, which opens to the public February 24 and 25, 9am to 5pm.

The POSH Palm Beach sale -- which features clothing and accessories from socialites, celebrities, designers and fashionable retailers -- will take place at
Royal Poinciana Plaza, located at 340 Royal Poinciana Way. Valet parking
will be provided. Sterling Palm Beach LLC, owner of the Poinciana Plaza,
has generously donated the space for the sale. POSH Palm Beach has
already gathered a stunning inventory of designer apparel and accessories
from couture to casual. Donations are greatly appreciated and continue to be
collected.

Mark and June Ackermann

For information about the gala, ticket sales to the gala and sale or to make
donations, contact Melinda Porter at 561-828-1522 or MPorter@lighthouse.org.

Founded in 1905, Lighthouse International is dedicated to preserving vision
and providing critically needed health care services to help people of all ages
overcome the challenges of vision loss and blindness and enjoy safe, independent lives.

Frances Webster and Elisabeth Munder

Bill and Norma Tiefel

Kate Ford , Marc Rosen, and Grace Meigher

Douglas Rae and Sally Ann Howes

Stephen De Angelis and Carla Mann

Mona de Sayve and Lars Bolander

George Mann and Saks Assist GM Toreh Bahrami

On Friday, January 27th and Saturday, January 28th SAKS Fifth Avenue on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach hosted a shopping event featuring Same Sky jewelry, which empowers women in Africa by giving them a hand up, not a handout. Same Sky is a trade-not-aid initiative that employs African women living with HIV/AIDs as artisans, teaching them to make beautiful hand crocheted necklaces and bracelets and providing a platform to sell in the global marketplace.

Same Sky's artisans earn an income that is approximately 15 times greater than the average wage earned by women in Sub-Saharan Africa and the sustainable work allows them to take their first steps out of poverty and toward empowerment.

Sarina Russo, Francine LeFrak, Shiela Klehm, Hope Kessler, Marie Therese Royce, and Janet Malpeso

Same Sky founder Francine LeFrak was joined by co-hosts Catherine Adler, Somers Farkas, Carolyn Grace, Michele Herbert, Hope Kessler, Sheila Klehm, Karen LeFrak, Hillie Mahoney, Janet Malpeso, David Ober, and Jane Pontarelli in hosting the two-day shopping event in Jewelry on One at SAKS Fifth Avenue in Palm Beach. During the trunk show, Same Sky debuted new spring colors and collections including Fabric Wrap bracelets ($30 - $40), Prosperity seed bead bracelets ($60 - $75), and Same Sky's signature hand-blown glass beaded bracelets and necklaces ($160 - $400).

100% of all net-proceeds from the sale of Same Sky's jewelry go to employing more women artisans and expanding into other regions. Same Sky jewelry is worn by many celebrities including Meryl Streep, Alicia Keys, Fergie, Queen Latifah, Goldie Hawn, and Jessica Alba, among others and retails in a variety of price points making it the perfect fashion accessory or holiday gift. Same Sky began in 2009 with 4 artisans and now employs over 75 artisans in Rwanda and Zambia.

Stacey Cooper and Lauren Roberts

Miss Florida USA

Congressman Ed Royce and Marie Therese Royce

Rick Friedberg, Francine LeFrak, Richard Berman, Sarina Russo, and Alicia Grace

Months later, but better late than never, Jennifer Raiser reports from San Francisco ...

San Francisco loves the Preview Party of the Fall Antiques Show for many reasons: the juried treasures carefully cosseted and carried by 60 dealers from all corners of the globe; the glittering gaggle of old-school and newly minted patrons who turn up at the historic Fort Mason pier on the dot specified by their admission tickets; the commendable charity, Enterprise for High School Students, which provides low income youth with entrepreneurial training and college counseling; and McCall Catering’s indispensable, irresistible lamb chops with apple-mint sauce.

While the wares change from year to year, the patrons’ perspective is largely the same: sip, see, be seen, shop, chop.

Peninsula Regional Chair Stacey Dobos admiring an early Impressionist painting

This year marked the thirtieth -- or pearl -- anniversary of the event, which provided the organizers with rich thematic associations: Honorary Chair Chef Tyler Florence’s pearls of caviar hors d’oeuvres, ably served by the high school beneficiaries; a museum-quality display of precious objects hiding secret compartments, deceptive surfaces, and private amusements, curated by the Fine Arts Museums’ Maria Santangelo and independent curator Holland Lynch; architect-chevalier Andrew Skurman’s brobdignagian display of opalescent architectural scrolls looming over the entrance like Gulliver’s bookends; and jeweler Gump’s profusion of pearls, which adorned some of the co-chairs’ clavicles and lobes with their nacreous beauty. And much like string of baroque beads from the South Seas, the distinctive gems of the evening revealed their luster as the evening wore on.

With enough Chairs to seat a Louis XVI banquet, the Fall Antiques Show is organized by tiers of Committees who rally the supporters and host all manner of events to engage and enlarge the circle. This year’s Committee Chairs included Amanda Wallis, OJ and Gary Shansby, Suzanne Tucker, Jenna Hunt, Toni Wolfson and Robert Federighi, Kathryn Lasater, Shirley Robinson von Karl, Kendall Wilkinson, Elizabeth and Paul Touw, Laura King Pfaff, Lisa and John Grotts, Michelle Elizabeth Curtis, Wheeler S. Griffith, Stacy and Ted Dobos, Jay Jeffers, Craig Lubbock, KC Lynch, Victoria Penfield, and the indefatigable Lisa Podos, ably encouraged by Enterprise Director Tony DiStefano, and Board President Craig Lubbock.

The sold-out lecture series, always a popular destination for the duration of the show, featured presentations from the decorous Archduke Dr. Geza von Habsburg, Sotheby’s smart Henry Howard-Sneyd, the witty Ruth Peltason, special agent Robert Wittman, the informative Cathy Witlock, and the richly talented designers Thomas Jayne, David Kleinberg, Suzanne Lovell and local favorite Suzanne Tucker. Loving pages of tributes to Antiques Show stalwarts Michael Barcun, John Traina, Perry Foster, and Randolph Arczynski in the front of the hefty catalogue provided a graceful reminder of the thousands of hours of knowledge, support, taste, and dedication that this enormous, elegant event requires to retain its cachet and fill the coffers for enterprising high school students.

Amongst the enterprising: Emmy and Dolph Andrews, Jennifer and Doug Biederbeck, Fine Arts’ Museums’ Lucy and John Buchanan, social stalwarts Margo and Harry de Wildt, Doris Fisher, Lindsay and Peter Joost, Lonna Wais, Dede Wilsey en famille with Alexis and Trevor Traina and Katie and Todd Traina, interior designers Paul Vincent Wiseman, Jay Jeffers, Ken Fulk, Grant Gibson, and Barbara Scavullo, Norah and Norman Stone, Denise Bouche Fitch, Elaine McKeon, Leslie and George Hume, Jean and James Douglas, Phyllis Moldow, Nion McEvoy, and a string of treasure seekers glowing like perfect pearls.