Some people have the amazing ability to change the world dramatically. These people define our world - and everything we accept to be reality.
Ms. Peggy Guggenheim was one of those characters - the one woman who defined the American art scene in the 1930's and 1940's. Peggy Guggenheim was a wealthy heiress who started the Art of This Century Gallery (1942 - 1947), which featured work from international artists such as Calder, Dali, Arp, Breton, Braque, Chagall, Chirioo, Kandinsky, Klee, Ernst, Pollock, and Duchamp to name drop a few. Her gallery featured the work of contemporary Surrealists, the Dadaists, Abstract Expressionists, Futurists, Kinetic Sculpturist, as well as up-and-coming American artists. Ms. Guggenheim was an original
bon vivant, an influential woman of outrageous style and taste, and a powerful philanthropist.
The fashions of the evening were to be 1940's inspired - although many guests came sporting other Modern Art inspirations - from Surrealism to the Dadaists (we were hoping to see a fashionista inspired
Le Violin de Ingres by Man Ray - but alas).
A few we appreciated:
Let's Bring Back: Dapper Gents
Let's Bring Back: Poetry in the Salon
Let's Bring Back: Warm Sweaters and Killer Color Combinations
Let's Bring Back: Chainmail
Lisa Salzer wore 40 pounds of metal - and made it look light...
Is it a shoe - or an Ice Cream Cone?
We will go with the latter.
Servers wore Magritte Inspired Bowlers
Photos by the Billy Farrell Agency.
Zacapa Rum put together killer concoctions for the night - there was a punch bowl of Pickford Punch, Zacapa served neat, and (our favorite) the Zacapa Rum Manhattan. We traditionally like our Manhattans with Bourbon (Old Man Emerson likes his
Atomic), but we are now
obsessed with the Rum reinvention of the Classic.
You know what they say...
Birds of a Feather..Flock Together
Photo by the Billy Farrell Agency.
Zacapa Manhattan
2 oz Zacapa 23 Rum
¾ oz Sweet Vermouth
3 dashes Orange Bitters
Stir with large ice cubes until well-chilled, strain, and garnish with an orange twist.
Delicious. Bottom's up!
Zacapa Neat.
We simply
must spend a few minutes on the curious delicacies that were served - with inspiration from Peggy Guggenheim herself and the
Futurist Cookbook, each course with its own back-story. Pelka served hand-held vintage-feeling Waldorf salads (honoring the institution where Peggy and her artsy friends spent many of their nights), "Drunken Liver" (since Peggy Guggenheim claimed she was drunk for five straight years), and delicious hazelnut butter cookies in the shape of the pipe in Magritte's iconic
"C'eci nest pa une pipe" painting.
Click Me for a Bigger, and Therefore Better View
Here are a few of our favorite shots from the night:
Cape and New Brunswick Oysters with Champagne Mignonette
The first bite from the last night on the Titanic, when her father died.
Photo by the Billy Farrell Agency.
Our favorite: a Calder Meat MobileEveryone was invited to take a bite.
Photos by the Billy Farrell Agency.
"Totalrice"
Arancini balls building on the blasphemous Futurist idea of making
Risotto with beer, rather than wine.
Photo by the Billy Farrell Agency.
Italian Breasts in the Sunshine
Based on a classic Futurist recipe, Almond cakes with raspberry nipples
&
A Piece of A Pollock
Pelka presented Ms. Blume with an edible version of Jackson Pollock's dripped paintings: dark chocolate brownies with dripped white chocolate and salted caramel. Guests were invited to hack off their own piece and chow down.
Referencing Dali, a Surrealist-inspired graveyard of melting candy
The Hostess with The Mostest...