Out & About
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Under a white tent on the beach, the president and chief operating officer of wealth management in America for UBS, Robert Silver, kept his remarks brief. “Good shopping, good art, and good friends. A toast to all of you,” he said.
About 400 guests raised their glasses in agreement. Most were clients or potential clients of UBS, which had paid all their fair expenses except travel to and from Florida. UBS serves as the main sponsor of the fair in both Basel and in Miami Beach.
Mr. Silver wouldn’t say how much money it spends for the corporate sponsorship. He preferred to talk about UBS’s contemporary art collection, which goes on view at the Museum of Modern Art in February.
No art hung in the tent, but it looked beautiful. Robert Isabell’s decor included lavender silk tablecloths, silver plates, and plentiful pink peonies.
Throughout the fair, UBS provides its guests with private tours of collections and a lounge at the convention site: Lots of fun for the clients, but hard work for those UBS money managers.
“Get me a car, get me into this party, where’s my map, I lost my hotel key, all day long my phone was ringing,” said one well-coiffed UBSer.
Another sponsor, NetJets, held a dinner for its owners at Casa Casuarina. “We’re an exclusive club,” said Chief Executive Richard Santulli.
NetJets sells partial ownerships in a fleet of planes. Subscribers purchase blocks of flying time and can call from anywhere in the world for a plane to pick them up.
“I use it until it runs out, then I take a deep breath and fill it up some more,” said Marc Glimcher of PaceWildenstein.
He primarily uses NetJets to visit artists – Agnes Martin in New Mexico, Robert Rauschenberg on Captiva Island. “It’s the nicest way to travel in the whole world,” he said, “and also the safest.”
He must have impressed his in-laws when he flew nine members of his wife’s family to Bermuda to celebrate her father’s 80th birthday.
Sharon King, Larry King’s ex-wife, likes the “understated sophistication.” The planes are “very comfortable, very new; I like that they’re all the same. It’s like going home,” she said, breaking into laughter at the thought.
One area that isn’t what it could be is the interior design of the planes. That may change soon. Six weeks ago the company met with designers Roger Duffy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and James Terrell to discuss upgrading the cabins. One idea is to build lighting into the windows that simulate the sun. The system could synch to the passenger’s preferred time zone. Any changes will have to worked out with the FAA, though.
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The most fun party of the fair thus far was the official opening fete, Tuesday at the Delano. Top collectors shared poolside cushions with gallery assistants and art handlers. Guests ate and drank to their hearts’ content.
Some cooled their heels in the pool. Others relaxed in hammocks. All got into the Miami groove.
The main action had not yet begun, but Eric LoPresti and Lisa Schlling, who came to the party with their art adviser, Marcia Eitelberg, were gearing up.
“We’re looking for the next Picassos,” Mr. LoPresti said. “We both love the hunt and the kill,” Ms. Schilling added.