Silvia Karman Cubina, Diane Venet, Criselda Breene

By:  Mary Jo Almeida-Shore  

We enjoy a visit to the Bass Museum of Art, one of Miami Beach’s key cultural landmarks, just about any time, but no visit compares to touring this gorgeous museum alongside the city’s leading arts patrons, socialites and tastemakers after hours.  We had the opportunity to do just that on Thursday, March 14, as the Bass hosted its annual fundraiser, A Night at the Museum, for which more than 500 fashion-forward art lovers gathered to enjoy a private preview of From Picasso to Koons: The Artist as Jeweler curated by Diane Venet, which features over 200 beautiful, wearable “shiny things,” created by 135 artists.  Needless to say, our inner (and outer) jewelry addict longed for “one of everything.”  The exhibition, presents an intimate and often whimsical side of some of the greatest artists of recent times, each offering a singular vision of adornment. The exceptional, little-known works of wearable sculpture offer new insights into the creative genius artistic giants including:  Andy Warhol, Georges Braque, Louise Bourgesois, Lucio Fontana, Salvador Dalí, Louise Nevelson, Man Ray, Anthony Caro, Yoko Ono and Anish Kapoor.  

Throughout the evening, we mingled, enjoyed cocktails and refreshments from Miami Club Rum, Pavan, Perrier Sparkling Mineral Water, Soyka and TiramesU and danced to  beats by Johnny the Boy, while marveling at the exhibition.

Notable attendees included: Bass Museum of Art Executive Director and Chief Curator Silvia Karman Cubiñá and Bass Museum of Art Board President George Lindemann; A Night at the Museum event co-chairs Criselda Breene and Christina Getty-Maercks; curator of the exhibition Diane Venet and her husband, artist Bernar Venet; local artists: Agustina Woodgate, Manny Prieres, Frances Trombly, Leyden Rodríguez- Casanova, Carlos Betancourt, Cristina Lei Rodriguez and Monica López De Victoria, George Sánchez- Calderón, Christy Gast and Sinisa Kukec; gallerists Fred Snitzer, Nina Johnson, David Castillo, Robert Fontaine and Anthony Spinello; collectors: Robert Blumenthal, John Lin, Kathryn Mikesell and Tara Sokolow Benmeleh and Jack Benmeleh; Commissioner Jerry Libbin, Terence Riley, Sam Robin, Yolanda and Jeff Berkowitz and Fernando Wong; Bass Museum of Art Board Members: Cathy Vedovi, Ali Matlick, Jose Miguel Net, Laura Paresky Gould, Ramiro E. del Amo, Alan Randolph, Cricket Taplin, Richard Toledo, Brian Ehlrich, Sarah Harrelson, Elizabeth Spill and Tom Murphy and his wife, Suzanne Murphy.  From Picasso to Koons: The Artist as Jeweler is on display through July 21.  For more information about the exhibit, visit:  http://www.bassmuseum.org/art/from-picasso-to-koons-the-artist-as-jeweler/.

photos courtesy of World Red Eye and Tara Solomon