Art for Opera

NEW YORK—As though to illustrate the old adage, “nothing succeeds like success,” or perhaps its variant, “nothing attracts money like money,” the Metropolitan Opera, not normally thought to be one of New York’s more hard-pressed arts institutions, threw a lavish benefit auction Sunday evening.

The glittering event attracted collectors, such as Steve Martin, gallerists, such as Jeffrey Deitch, and artists galore, including John Chamberlain, Chuck Close, Jeff Koons, David Salle, Cindy Sherman, William Wegman, and Robert Wilson (all of whom, other than Koons, had also donated work to the auction).

The “powerhouse” (as he was described to me by one of his staff) behind this event was Met Director Peter Gelb. He has been on the job less than a year, but has already made clear his commitment to the principle of opera’s interconnectedness with the visual arts, having decided, for instance, that the Metropolitan Opera House could do with a contemporary art gallery.

Last year Gelb charmed Marie Schwartz into funding the Arnold & Marie Schwartz “Gallery Met” to the tune of $1 million. When I spoke to Schwartz at the time that her generosity was first announced, she rather disconcertingly told me that she and her late husband neither collected contemporary art, nor had any particular interest in it, but when Gelb announced that he needed money to establish a gallery, she decided to help out.

Gelb’s sidekick in the gallery project is the enviably well-connected Dodie Kazanjian. In addition to directing Gallery Met, Kazanjian continues in her role as editor-at-large at Vogue, where, among other things, she “curates” exhibitions on the page that reproduce images being shown in current gallery exhibitions—like “Still Life & Kicking,” which opens at Paula Cooper this week, and appears in June’s Vogue.

Kazanjian is quite a powerful character herself, and when I asked her how she’d persuaded so many artists to contribute their work to the auction she shrugged and told me that they were just artists she knew well enough to ask. But even she was surprised at their enthusiasm: “It was an amazing response. I thought that contemporary artists wouldn’t be interested in an antique art form like opera, but it was quite the contrary.”

Of course, not only has she had to bring the artists on board, but also their dealers. “Everything’s been sort of pro bono,” she explains (although Gelb commented that “a lot of free opera tickets” had been involved) and adds, “the dealers are big givers here.”

After cocktails in the Gallery Met, Sunday evening’s party moved into the Met’s auditorium and on to the stage, where—in the midst of the partially dismantled set for Mark Morris’s brand-new production of Orfeo et Euridice—we dined by candlelight on smoked salmon, double Colorado rack of lamb, and an orgy of chocolate-themed desserts; sipped sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, and Taittinger champagne; enjoyed a brief operatic recital; and eventually got down to business.

Auctioneer for the evening was the always entertaining Jamie Niven, vice chairman of Sotheby’s, who took us briskly through the 14 lots on offer (all works of art, except for a swanky dinner with diva Renee Fleming—which went for $21,000—and a chance to actually sing as part of a Met production, which Niven knocked down three times: when the bidding reached $13,000, he sold it to all three competing bidders).

The art went thus:

William Kentridge’s Birdcatcher/Papageno (2007)—which relates to his recent re-imagining of The Magic Flute at BAM—went for $110,000 (estimate $110,000-$135,000).

Sophie von Hellerman’s Piano (2007) fetched $55,000 (est. $40,000-$50,000); while Richard Prince’s racy Madame Butterfly (The Program) (2006) sold for $80,000 (est. $60,000-$75,000); and George Condo’s Don Giovanni (2007) went for $60,000 (est. $55,000-$75,000) “to the man with almost the same haircut as me,” joked Niven.

David Salle’s Fresh Atom (2007) went to Jeffrey Deitch, who along with Mary Boone now represents Salle, and who effectively bought it in at $95,000 (way beneath its estimate of $150,000-$175,000), despite the fact that he’d been bidding against Jeff Koons.

Cindy Sherman's Untitled (1993) fetched $75,000 (est. $65,000-$85,000); Guillermo Kuitca’s Metropolitan Curtain (2004) raised $55,000 (est. $50,000-$75,000); and Robert Wilson’s Renee Fleming: Meditation of Thais (2007) sold for $130,000 (est. $150,000-$300,000).

William Wegman’s series of four unique 20 x 24 inch Polaroids (including one triptych) based on operas from the Met’s 2007-08 season was the bargain of the night at $50,000 (est. $50,000-$80,000).

Barnaby Furnas’s Assassination: Abraham Lincoln (2007) saw John McEnroe bidding, but failing to get it at $130,000 (est. $50,000-$70,000).

Chuck Close’s tapestry Renee (2007) went twice—it exists in an edition of 3—and with Close’s permission, Niven knocked it down to both of its highest bidders at $70,000 and $80,000 (est. $90,000-$100,000).

And the top seller of the evening was John Chamberlain’s beautiful Entanglearpeggio (2007), which raised $625,000 (est. $700,000-$1,000,000).

So pretty much everyone went away happy. The Met made a packet. The collectors got to pay what they’d bid without a premium. The artists had been offered 50 percent of whatever their work fetched in the auction (“though not all of them are taking it,” Kazanjian told me, while others have asked that a percentage of the hammer price go to other charities they patronize).

But the real benefit of the event, even more important than the fundraising, was furthering what Kazanjian called “Peter’s vision”—to have Gallery Met serve as a “laboratory” to bring major artists into proximity with opera, and invite them to collaborate. “We hope that the artists become interested in the opera,” she said. “Some of them had never been to the opera. This is a way to open the door to them.”

Now that is interesting. And probably far more significant than having them donate pieces to an auction. Of course, Wilson and Kentridge are very familiar with the inside of an opera house. But imagine John Chamberlain designing for opera. Or Cindy Sherman.