The Met’s Annual Acquisitions Gala Raised $4 Million for New Works 

Max Hollein, Thelma GoldenJoe Schildhorn/BFA.com

In the candlelit Temple of Dendur, The Metropolitan Museum of Art debuted a collection of newly acquired works last night at the museum’s annual Acquisitions Gala. Notably on showcase was The Mantuan Roundel by Gian Marco Cavalli (circa 1500), which was discovered under a staircase in the English countryside. (Beyond the works on view were more unseen treasures like Bust-Length Study of a Man, 1848 by François-Auguste Biard.) However, it was the archive of James Van Der Zee, a staggering 19,000 photos and 30,000 negatives comprised largely of formal sittings with Harlem luminaries of the 1920s and ’30s, that stole the show. Cocktail hour saw guests stepping into a world inspired by Van Der Zee, with formal sittings taking place in an ornate tableau complete with leather wingback chairs, velvet fainting sofas, and vases bursting with florals and wheat stalks.  

The crowd of some 470 guests was a reflection of the museum itself, a mixture of artists including Marilyn Minter, John Currin Rachel Feinstein, Rashid Johnson, and Antwaun Sargent, along with the support systems that surround them. There were the event chairs, Dasha Zhukova Niarchos, Dr. Samantha Boardman, Amy Griffin, Gina Peterson, and Ann G. Tenenbaum, as well as the museum’s top brass; director, Max Hollein; president and CEO, Daniel Weiss; and David H. Koch Scientist in Charge, Marco Leona, who is tasked with the scientific study of all incoming works. 

Longtime Met supporters like Wendi Deng Murdoch, Karlie Kloss with Vogue’s Mark Guiducci, Tory Burch, Annette de la Renta, in a festive mink-trimmed winter evening gown, and Alexis Traina were out in full force too. “Whenever I’m in town, I try to make time to come to The Met, because it is, of course, one of those magical places that are so unique to this city, but it’s always changing too, thanks to all of these new treasures like the ones we were shown tonight,” Traina told Vogue. “There’s really no other place like it in the world.”

Later in the evening, after partygoers were given an impromptu history lesson of the new works, artist Jordan Casteel delighted guests with an homage to her late grandmother, Margaret, another longtime supporter of the museum who first influenced Casteel to pursue art as a career.

“Standing with you all tonight, I am especially aware of [my grandmother’s] presence,” Casteel told guests. “As the first artist to speak at this gala, I am a reflection of her, embodying her wildest dreams. Like Grams, you hold a position at the proverbial table. You believe that supporting art and artists is not only important but necessary. Through acquisitions, history is written.”