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.
Those who have tussled for a view of a piece of artwork know what it feels like to be a part of a museum community. There are the tall people blocking the wall text, the children who dare to touch the canvas, the art students sketching away, the nice guards and the mean ones.
There is another kind of museum community that exists beyond its walls. This community gathers sometimes blocks, and sometimes thousands of miles away from the museum. Their purpose is to learn about art, develop friendships, and – at least some of the time – raise money for the museum.
Which brings us to yesterday’s gathering in New York on behalf of a museum located in Jerusalem. The Israel Museum is fortunate to have a strong group of supporters in America who come together each spring for a lunch and art history lecture. This year the American Friends of the Israel Museum were joined by a delegation from the Brazil Friends of the Israel Museum.
The event’s chairwomen were Cheryl Minikes and Liz Swig. Right after dessert arrived, Ms. Swig introduced the director of the Menil Collection in Houston, Josef Helfenstein, who spoke about how Paul Klee came to be known in America. Abigail Aldrich Rockefeller and the founding director of the Museum of Modern Art, Alfred Barr, were among his first collectors here.
Art right now, however, was the buzz during the meal. I sat with art dealer Adrian Rosenfeld, who has galleries in Chelsea and Munich, and artist Lisa Tan, whose latest exhibit at Mr. Rosenfeld’s gallery features photographs of books that are in both her and her boyfriend’s collections.
Another Chelsea dealer at the luncheon was Andrea Meislin, who last week hosted a cocktail party in her gallery for the American Friends of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. She is showing arresting photographs of contemporary Israeli life by Barry Frydlender. She caught up with the curator of photography at the Israel Museum, Nissan Perez.
The director of the Israel Museum, James Snyder, made clear that he is not content to meet his museum patrons on their turf. He encouraged all to attend the International Council, a gathering in Jerusalem in early June. “Come see the $50 million transformation of the campus,” Mr. Snyder said, noting that the money was assembled by seven international friends of the museum, five from America.
