Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Villard Mansion at the New York Palace, NYC
On Tuesday, April 25, the American Friends of Museums in Israel honored Ruud van Empel and Justin Bartha at our Annual Cocktail Reception + Fine Art Auction in the Villard Mansion at the New York Palace.
Ruud van Empel, Artist of the Year, was honored for his innovative techniques that have had a significant impact on photography around the globe. His painstakingly constructed digital photography can take him months to complete. The artist prepared a special edition for the benefit from his critically acclaimed “World Series.”
Chairman David Genser presented the “Excellence in the Dramatic Arts” award to Justin Bartha; a versatile actor whose career spans comedy and drama in film, TV and stage. His latest role is in the critically acclaimed new drama, The Good Fight. Mr. Bartha shared a lovely story of how he began collecting art. He attended the evening with his wife, Lia Smith.
Jane Fell was Chairlady of the event. Special guests Eilat Lieber, the Director and Chief Curator of the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum and Nissam Tal, the Director General of the Haifa Museums flew in from Israel to be with the American Friends. Lucas Hunt of Hunt Auctioneers was an energetic and engaging auctioneer for the evening.
During the cocktail reception, the attendees viewed works offered in the silent and live auction by Jim Dine, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Alex Katz, Tahnee Lonsdale, Richard Meier, Marilyn Minter, Richard Prince, Robert Rauschenberg, Shelter Serra, Hermann Struck, Donald Sultan, Ruud van Empel among others.
Guests in attendance included: Nathan A. Bernstein and Katharina Otto-Bernstein, Roxanne Cason, David and Danielle De Buck, Filippo Fossati and Jennifer Bacon, Oded Halahmy, Lillian Heidenberg and Arthur Fefferman, Nathan Hevrony, Lily Li, Carol Penn, Jonathan Nadler, Amy and George Roland, Martin and Susan Sanders, Larry Scheinfeld, Peter and Charlotte Schoenfeld, Betty Schwarz, Rabbi Barton and Jane Shallat, Donald Sultan, Jacky Teplitzky, C.B. Whyte, Mira and Nathan Zwillinger.
The American Friends of Museums in Israel recognizes, promotes, and honors its outstanding partner museums in Israel by providing exhibition, program, project and financial support through the generosity of its donors. In addition, they offer heightened visibility for their partner museums at special events in New York and in promotional materials. The partner museums are Design Museum Holon; Haifa Museums that include the Haifa City Museum, Haifa Museum of Art, Hermann Struck Museum, Mané-Katz Museum, the National Maritime Museum and the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art; and the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum.