Gala gathering

Artists Jeff Koons and Haim Steinbach share ideas at the Tang gala.

Art-world stars and social luminaries convened at Skidmore’s Tang Teaching Museum last June to preview From Pop to Now: Selections from the Sonnabend Collection. Cocktails in the Tang, followed by dinner and dancing under a dazzling white tent, celebrated an exhibition that was a winner even before the complimentary national reviews started rolling in (the New York Times, for example, noted that “landing a show brimming with important pieces by some of the best artists of the last 40 years is a coup”).
Among the 200-plus guests were Ileana Sonnabend, the legendary art collector; Antonio Homem, director of the Sonnabend Gallery in New York City; and From Pop to Now artists including Clifford Ross, Elger Esser, Haim Steinbach, Matthew Weinstein, Lawrence Beck, and Jeff Koons. Also present were many Skidmore trustees, alumni, parents, and friends.
In a toast to Sonnabend, Koons honored her gift for bringing artists together. “She has given all these different artists the opportunity to reflect and connect with each other,” he said, as fireworks sparkled over the Tang.
From Pop to Now was made possible with support from Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Beverly Beatson Grossman ’58 and Felix Grossman, the Edward J. Noble Foundation, the AT&T Foundation, the Albany Times Union, and Friends of the Tang. —BAM