WHAT’S TEFAF TO YOU?

By Linda Lee

In early May there was Frieze. Then came TEFAF, the European Fine Art Foundation New York, which kicked off on Thursday, May 9, with a benefit for the the Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Cancer Care Unit. Muffy Potter Aston was chair of the event. It raised $480,000.

As always, there was Champagne and oysters shucked by a wandering oyster server. Flowers were everywhere and, unlike the more old-fashioned and classic TEFAF Maastricht two months earlier, the show at the New York Armory offered more contemporary and modern art, design and jewelry.

Roxane West brought her dog, a trend these days, but that made it hard to hold a glass of Champagne. (Photo by Madison McGaw/BFA)

On opening night guests, artists, and gallerists included Nick Acquavella, Hamish Bowles, Zach Braff, Tory Burch, Lady Lillian Cavendish, Anderson Cooper, Billy Cotton, Simon de Pury, Leonardo DiCaprio, Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Anh Duong, Alessia Fendi, Martha Glass, Larry Gagosian, David Geffen, Lucia Hwong Gordon, Jamee and Peter Gregory, Audrey and Martin Gruss, Grace Gummer and Mark Ronson, KAWS, Reed Krakoff, Aerin Lauder, Leonard Lauder, Adam Lindeman, Carlos Mota, David Muir, Jamie Niven, Ashley Olsen, Polina Proshkina, Renee Rockefeller, Jamie Greenfield Rohatyn, Jill Roosevelt, Aby Rosen, Peter Som, Martha Stewart, Marcus Teo, Jamie Tisch, Barbara Tober, Bruce and Jane Toll, and Vera Wang.

Anderson Cooper (Photo by Madison McGaw/BFA)

Martha Stewart (Photo by Matteo Prandoni/BFA)

Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, of Salon 94, which featured female artists, Mark Ronson and his wife, Grace Gummer, and Alix Frey(Photo by Madison McGaw/BFA)

Sales were brisk and included a Kehinde Wiley work on paper, a 2023 study for Aluel Mareng, which sold for $100,000.

Kehinde Wiley “Aluel Mareng Study” (2023)

The Tina Kim Gallery closed a deal on an early greyscale Park Seo-Bo piece with an asking price of $1.5 million.

1947 Se Bo Park

Ceramics made a strong showing, with female artists prominent. Patrick Seguin showed more of his stash of Jean Prouvé furniture, and sold an FV Armchair from about 1947 by the end of the show, on Sunday, May 14, as well as Prouvé’s Cité Bed No.456, variant with bedhead forming a drawer, ca.1951;Visiteur FV 11 Armchair, ca. 1947;Flaque Coffee Table,ca. 1958; and a pair ofhirondelle wall lamps, ca. 1953.

Jean Prouvé, Visiteur FV 11 Armchair, ca. 1947

Back to opening night, and the Champagne and oysters. We are still fretting about that. We know it’s a TEFAF tradition. But how do men and women hold a glass, eat an oyster and still keep their silk ties, scarves and dresses pristine for the evening?)

We know that Tory Burch knows the answer.

Tory Burch (Photo by Matteo Prandoni/BFA)

Some familiar faces from the East End were at TEFAF’s opening night party: Martin and Audrey Gruss, Polina Proshkina, often seen at the Water Mill Center, Peter Som (from Sag Harbor) and Lucia Hwong Gordon.

Peter Som (Photo by Matteo Prandoni/BFA)

Polina Proskina (Photo by Madison McGaw/BFA)

Lucia Hwong Gordon (Photo by Madison McGaw/BFA)

Chandelier diamond earrings from Boghossian Paraiba and Hauyne