History in the Making

The Frick Collection Autumn Dinner 2008: Guests enjoy the opportunity to dine among the masterpieces in the long West Gallery, which was Henry Clay Frick’s impressive private paintings gallery when he lived in the mansion.

The Preservation League of New York State honored Tiffany & Co. and The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, philanthropists and stewards of historic buildings in New York, as well as preservation advocates Connie and David Clapp with their most prestigious award at its 2008 Pillar of New York Awards gala at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City on Wednesday, October 22.

Since 1992, the Preservation League has presented its Pillar of New York Award to individuals and organizations whose work in the field of historic preservation has made them role models for others throughout the state and nation.

This year the League is honored Tiffany & Co. and The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, whose philanthropic efforts to support conservation and preservation demonstrates their guiding principle that a successful company has a responsibility to the greater community. “With a history dating back to 1837, Tiffany & Co. embraces New York’s rich industrial tradition, protecting the built environment as well as the natural environment. Likewise, Manhattan’s natural areas and urban green spaces are rare jewels that have been polished and refined through the support of The Tiffany & Co. Foundation,” said Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League of New York State. “Their commitment to ensure these elements from New York’s storied past are a part of our sparkling future make Tiffany & Co. and The Tiffany & Co Foundation true Pillars of New York.”

Michael Kowalski and Fernanda Kellogg

Connie and David Clapp

The League also honored Connie and David Clapp, who have protected the Hudson River Valley’s natural and built environments with a combination of bold leadership, ingenuity, and a passion for preservation. According to DiLorenzo, “Through Connie and David’s own generosity, as well as their efforts to bring new benefactors to the cause of preservation, countless places that define the special character of the Empire State are receiving strategic attention, extra effort, and new resources to secure their future. Leading by example; managing change to ensure positive results, and passionately supporting those organizations that advance their beliefs are among the qualities that make Connie and David Clapp Pillars of New York.”

The Preservation League of New York State – New York’s only statewide historic preservation organization – is dedicated to promoting historic preservation as a tool to revitalize our neighborhoods, honor our heritage, and enrich our lives. As the State’s preservation leader, the League seeks to recognize and applaud individuals, organizations and businesses which understand the value of our historic resources and have taken extraordinary actions to protect, preserve and promote those assets.

Caroline Mason, Chairman of PLNYS and Zibby Tozer

David Clapp, Jim Lebenthal, and Susan Henshaw Jones

Fernanda Kellogg and Kirk Henckels

Duane Hampton, Jamie Figg, Edward Lee Cave, and Judy Chiara

Karen and Barry Cord

Donald Fresne and Maureen Footer

Rod Drake and Jackie Weld Drake

Eric and Karin Shrubsole

Joan Walkup Corrigan, Mrs. Robert Goelet, and David Banker

Jim Zirin, Marlene Hess, and Mark Gilbertson

Molly Schaefer and Connie Clapp

Daniele Bodini and Clare Glover

Zibby Tozer and Tony Gebauer

Jay DiLorenzo, President PLNYS and Jessica DiLorenzo

Kevin Smith and Fernanda Kellogg

John Loring, Linda Buckley, and Peter Schneirla

Joanna Harps King, David Sloan, Carol Reiser, Caroline Mason, and Alexandria Leo

Carol Reiser and Jim Blauvelt

The Frick Collection held its annual Autumn Dinner at The Frick. They honored Countess Giulia Maria Mozzoni Crespi, founder of Fondo per l’Ambiente Italiano, The National Trust for Italy.

The Countess is a member of one of the oldest and most prominent Lombard families – whose name is linked not only with a range of industrial and cultural enterprises, but also, inextricably, with the Italian national daily Il Corriere della Sera.

Vannozza G. Crespi, Luca Crespi (daughter-in-law and son of honoree Countess Guilia Maria Mozzoni Crespi), Event Co-Chair Pilar Crespi Robert, Director Anne L. Poulet, and Mariuccia Zerilli-Marimo.

In 1975 she left her post as editorial manager at the newspaper and set up the Italian National Trust (or “FAI”) on the model of the British National Trust. Since then, over the years, the initiative has brought back to life a rich array of national architectural treasures which are now open to the public including historic homes, castles, abbeys, libraries and art collections, historic gardens and coastal areas.

For the past thirty years she and her son have also been running a farm on the Padanian plain utilizing biodynamic agriculture – the elimination of pesticides, weed-killers, and synthetic chemical fertilizers. The countess collaborates with the Italian biodynamic Agriculture Association to promote the use of this approach with a view to helping purify the soil and thus allow for the cultivation of healthy food. The countess is a pioneer in an international movement.

Stephen Robert, Event Co-Chair Pilar Crespi Robert, and Frick Director Anne L. Poulet

Nicholas H. Hall, Fabrizio Moretti, and George Wachter

Bona Frescobaldi, Max C. Chapman, Event Co-Chair Donna Josey Chapman, and Francois Poulet

Irene Roosevelt Aitken greeting Francois Poulet (with Board Chairman Margot Bogert in the background in turquoise)

Ann Nitze and friend

Trustee Howard Phipps, Jr, Mary Phipps, and Colin B. Bailey, Associate Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator

Board Chairman Margot Bogert, Frederick R. Koch, and Margo M. Langenberg

Town & Country's Sarah Medford and Fabrizio Arenji-Buentiveglio

Alex and Yuki Bouzari

Susan Marshall, Gary Jaworsky, and Ruthann G. Niosi (NY Representative of FAI)

Margo M. Langenberg, Frederick R. Koch, and Christine Hearst Schwarzman

Margaret Astrup and Max Marmor, President, Samuel H. Kress Foundation

James S. Reibel, Barbara Reibel, Director Anne L. Poulet, Young Fellows Coordinator Caitlin Davis, and Francois Poulet

Herbert and Svetlana Wachtell

Marvin H. and Mary Davidson

Dorothy Kosinski, Director of the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., and Lady Lully Gibbons and Lord David Gibbons

Marlene Hess, Jean-Marie Eveillard, and Christine Hearst Schwarzman

Trustee (and great grandson of Henry Clay Frick) Peter P. Blanchard III and Sofia Blanchard

Clair Glover, Event Co-Chair Daniele Bodini, and Francesca Bodini

Suzette de Marigny Smith, Robert Sculthorpe, and Deborah Royce

Elizabeth Stribling and Guy Robinson

Douglas Wu, Barbara Cates, Christian K. Keesee, and Hope Wu

Isabella Meisinger, June Weldon, and Fern Wachter

Marina Killery and David Orentreich

Heidi Rosenau with Bill Cunningham

Adrienne Vittadini, Geoffrey Hoguet, and Nancy Novogrod

Frick Director Anne L. Poulet, Trustee Stephen A. Schwarzman, and Bona Frescobaldi

Director Anne L. Poulet having just presented a silver commemorative salver from Tiffany and Company to Luca Crespi, son of honoree Countess Giuila Maria Mozzoni Crespi

Senator Bob Kerrey, Sarah Paley, and Frick Trustee Walter A. Eberstadt

Event Co-Chair Daniele Bodini and Lila Castellaneta, wife of Giovanni Castellaneta, Italian Ambassador to the United States

The Wednesday before last at the New-York Historical Society's 2008 History Makers Gala, they honored Lyndon B. Johnson biographer Robert Caro and Jack Rudin and the Rudin Family. It was also an opportunity for guests to preview the exhibition Grant and Lee in War and Peace that is now running at the Historical Society.

Mr. Caro is, if you didn’t already know, a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for biography and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Best Nonfiction Book of the Year. His first book The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, was chosen by the Modern Library as one of the hundred greatest nonfiction books of the 20th century.

Jack Rudin, chairman of Rudin Management, his brother, the late Lewis Rudin, and their father Samuel Rudin, and their family have been actively involved in real estate development in the city for more than six decades, as well as playing an active role in philanthropy and public service.

Bill and Ophelia Rudin, Susan Rudin, Beth Rudin DeWoody, and Fiona and Eric Rudin

Mr. Rudin sits on the Boards of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the George C. Marshall Foundation. He is an Honorary Trustee of the American Museum of Natural History and Congregation Shearith Israel, as well as a Trustee Emeritus of Iona College.

Co-chairs for the evening were Judith Roth Berkowitz, Richard Gilder, Roger Hertog, Patricia Klingenstein, Sidney Lapidus, Bruce Mosler, and Bernard Schwartz.

Among those attending were Diana Denzaquen, Ina and Robert Caro, Betsy and Ted Rogers, Joanna and Daniel Rose, Susan and Jack Rudin, Marlene Hess and Jim Zirin, Elizabeth Brown Pryor, Ann Reynolds and Robert DeButts (descendents of Robert E. Lee), Lesley Stahl and Aaron Latham, Carole and Richard Rifkind, Gail Sheehy, Lynn Nesbit, Addrian Benepe, and Judy and Josh Weston.