Guggenheim Gala Lights Up the Night

Wassily Kandinsky Ellsworth Kelly Marilyn Minter Peter Coffin New York Sales Preview Still Prime Time? Guggenheim Goes to Abu Dhabi Painting: Now and Forever, Part II

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Visitors to Wednesday's event, celebrating the museum's 50th anniversary, were greeted by a sea of sparkling Swarovski crystal decorations and tall tables decked with white cloths and glinting glassware echoed by clear acrylic Philippe Starck chairs.

Before being seated for dinner, attendees were treated in the rotunda above to a sneak preview of the Vasily Kandinsky retrospective opening today, as well as the requisite cocktails and canapes. Below, in the subterranean theater, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer was premiering his meditative commission Levels of Nothingness, which, inspired by Kandinsky's Yellow Sound, translates readings of seminal theoretical texts (deliciously performed by actress Isabella Rossellini) into a light performance somewhere between laser show and rock 'n' roll concert, complete with smoke machines.

With just over 250 guests total, including artist Marilyn Minter, Guggenheim alum/now Sotheby's hotshot Lisa Dennison, and megadealer Larry Gagosian, the fundraiser managed to bring in $2,275,000 in direct proceeds to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, thanks in large part to Guggenheim trustee (and gala co-chair) Amy Phelan's generous $1,175,000 bid on Blue Relief (2007), donated by artist Ellsworth Kelly for the occasion.

As a parting gift, all attendees were given a limited-edition art object by Peter Coffin: Clavier à lumières, a miniature organ emitting both music and, fittingly, light.