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.
The dark-wood doors at the Seventh Regiment Armory are imposing, but behind them was a warm welcome to the gala preview of the International Asian Art Fair.
Everyone was dressed to the nines, which was one more burden for chairwoman Payal Chaudhri. “The sari I was wearing was heavy,” Ms. Chaudhri said yesterday. But it was worth the trouble. The event raised $800,000 for the Asia Society, and Ms. Chaudhri looked like a goddess in her national costume.
More than 1,200 guests spent several hours in the Armory discovering porcelains, painted screens, carpets, and jewels. Along the way there were savory samosas, strong Cosmopolitans, and even the (recorded) sound of crickets to enjoy.
The primary activity of the preview was to admire – the art and the people. Penelope Tang, a ceramics artist who came with her mother Patricia, collected inspiration at the Andy Hei gallery. Margi Grisfina and Edith Dicconson of the Chinese Porcelain Co. guided newscaster Felicia Taylor (in a splendid white cape) through the objects at their booth. Nancy Blume, dressed in Kenzo, fell in love with a carpet at Sandra Whitman.
Collectors came from all over the country for the fair. Dr. James Bennett and his wife Deborah flew in from Phoenix, where they’re involved with the Asian Art Council of the Phoenix Art Museum. James Connell came from San Francisco to add to his collection of Southeast Asian jewelry. He was contemplating buying a Cambodian gold necklace.
One of the people who stopped traffic was Jocelynn Hyde. She paired a gold and black jacket with a headpiece composed of feathers dipped in golden paint, by New York milliner Leah C. Assia Grazioli also turned heads in a purple kimono refashioned into a fitted top and pants.
Men too indulged in costumes. Banker Patrick Brett wore an Indian shirt he purchased for a wedding in Bombay.
Not everyone at the preview was an aficionado of Asian art. Asked what Asian objects he admired at the fair, Tim Harrington said, “I love firecrackers.” Then he pointed to his tie, made of a pattern he and his wife designed for their textile company Deadly Squire. “This has an Asian feel, don’t you think?”
“Asian art is coming to the mainstream,” the Asia Society president, Vishakha Desai, said. “It’s no longer the remote exotic east of the 20th century. It’s the here and now.”
