Gucci Gathers Silicon Valley’s Women Leaders to Celebrate Alice Neel’s de Young Exhibition

As the sun sank behind San Francisco’s hills and the de Young museum emptied of its visitors at closing time, curators reopened the doors for a special celebration of the exhibition just hung inside. Alice Neel: People Come First spans the artist’s career, displaying the evolutions of her style, and the characteristic humanity that makes her art resonate today. “In these early days of edging toward a post-Covid world, people are really hungry for human connection, and that was the one thing that really fueled Neel’s art above all things,” said Lauren Palmor, Assistant Curator of American Art at the de Young. It’s the rawness and vulnerability of her portraits that made Neel, who passed away in 1984, a master. Neel attributed her success to her empathy, saying, “If I have any talent in relation to people, apart from planning the whole canvas, it is my identification with them. I get so identified when I paint them; when they go home, I feel frightful. I have no self⁠—I’ve gone into this other person.” 

Neel’s empathic gaze often focused on women, in their real and raw form. For Palmor, who became a mother in the process of curating the exhibition, the artist’s perspective was a guiding light. “Neel’s view of motherhood is completely unvarnished, almost distressingly honest. I had never seen someone document the emotional and psychological dimensions of matrescence with such candor.” 

For Juliet de Baubigny, general partner, BOND and Trustee of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and Susan Chokachi, President and CEO of Gucci Americas, Neel’s authentic depiction of women was the impetus for bringing together the intimate group of women who’ve helped shape the Bay Area. Filtering into the atrium of the deYoung after hours came Stitch Fix Founder Katrina Lake wearing a golden Gucci pencil skirt and a sleek chignon, alongside Google CMO Lorraine Twohill in chocolate Gucci slacks, as well as other industry leaders and innovators, including Modern Fertility CEO Afton Vechery, president and CFO of Salesforce Amy Weaver, and Spotify chief content curator and advertising business officer Dawn Ostroff. 

The evening began with remarks from curators, who had reimagined the exhibition, which originated at New York’s Metropolitan Museum, for San Francisco. To find new context for the West Coast exhibition, de Young curators turned to the artist’s son, who shared personal memories of the two months his mother spent with him in the city in 1969. “For people to see her painting and to know it was done near Buena Vista Park, which is just down the street, is really exciting,” said Palmor, who put works from Bay Area artists, like photographer Imogen Cunningham, in conversation with Neel to draw fresh perspectives.

With champagne and canapes, guests scanned the museum walls, getting to know one another as paintings sparked conversation. Following the viewing, it was up to the 9th floor, which was set for dinner with Gucci embroidered Chiavari chairs and Gucci floral linens and plates. Three Michelin starred chef Dominique Crenn, wearing a velvet Gucci blazer, dazzled guests with a meal inspired by Neel’s paintings. Against a panorama view of Golden Gate Park and its rainbow ferris wheel, Crenn served six courses comprised of tender leeks, white asparagus, Perigord truffle, and spiny lobster. 

As a chef who navigated male-dominated kitchens, she relished the opportunity to bring together and celebrate the women of the city. “I don’t think we even thought about it—we just said yes right away,” said Crenn. “I think people are suddenly conscious about what matters in this world, and what matters is to work together.” The night ended with that message in mind, in a pink lit lounge with guests savoring bonbons and making new connections.