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| Street vendor. 3 PM. Photo: Jeffrey Hirsch. |
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| Friday, March 14, 2014. Stone cold yesterday in New York. But sunny and bright, and that made all the difference for us people waiting (now impatiently) for Spring. The weatherman says we’re going back to those “early Spring” temperatures today. The Ides of March are upon us. It, no doubt, was Will Shakespeare who placed that historical moment of Roman times into modern superstition in his play Julius Caesar where the soothsayer warns Caesar to “beware the Ides of March.”
Plutarch, the Greek historian who became a Roman citizen, reported that Caesar had been warned by a seer that “harm would come to him” sometime “no later than the Ides of March.” Making his way at that date (the last day of the three) to the Theater of Pompey where the Roman senate would often have political meetings, Caesar passed by the same seer who had warned him, and said to him “well, the Ides of March have come,” as if to say “and nothing happened to me.” Whereupon the seer agreed but reminded Caesar, “come, yes, but they have not gone yet.” Caesar was assassinated shortly after those words were spoken at a meeting of the senate. |
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| And so it was, and we weren’t there (thankfully). However, last night in New York there were lots of coming-togethers in various theaters of congregation and merriment. Over at the New-York Historical Society, there was an evening reception and special preview for the opening of NYHS’ spring exhibition “Bill Cunningham Facades” which opens to the public today. The exhibition, which was curated by Valerie Paley, explores the famous fashion and society photographer’s project which he began in 1968. |
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| In the beginning Cunningham scoured the city’s thrift stores, auctions and street fairs for vintage clothing , and scouted architectural sites on his bicycle. The project, completed in 1976, paired models, especially his muse, fellow photographer Editta Sherman, posing in period costumes at historic New York settings. There are 80 original and enlarged images from this whimsical and yet bold work on view providing a unique perspective on the city’s distant past and the time in which the images were created. An hour after that reception, on the other side of the Park on 70th and Fifth, the Frick Collection were holding its annual Young Fellows Ball, now in its 15th year. This year, called the Celestial Ball, was sponsored by designer fashion house Paule Ka. This is a great party, black tie, and long dresses for many of the junior social set, with about six hundred attending and running from 8:30 to midnight. We’ll have lots of pictures to show early next week. |
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This party is great fun with lots of drinks and hors d’oeuvres provided by Cornelia Guest Events with lady herself supervising. There must have been a couple hundred of the trio’s best friends and associates, who started filling the art and photography-filled public rooms (on two floors) from the moment the clock struck six. I left a little after eight and they were still streaming in. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were still a good crowd by the time the clock struck eleven, John’s that kind of host: people feel very welcome under his roof, and there are always lots of familiar faces to meet and greet and chat with. John’s friend, PR guru Alison Mazzola, oversaw the organization and planning. |
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Contact DPC here. |