Fall Art & Antiques show a hothouse hit.
The most coveted objet at the recent 36th preview gala for the San Francisco Fall Art & Antiques show wasn’t found among the 51 booths manned by a bevy of stellar international dealers.
Nor was this item in any way antique. Rather, OJ Shansby, a savvy gala committee member, realized the sizzling autumn heat (81 degrees) would render Fort Mason’s Festival Pavilion a hothouse on Oct. 25. So she wisely tucked a few newfangled mini fans that attach to a cell phone into her purse.
“If I had more fans with me, I could’ve set up a stand at the show,” she said, with a laugh. “They would’ve sold like hotcakes!”
Once again, designer Suzanne Tucker presided as chairwoman of this beloved bacchanalia of Grade A goods — the largest on the West Coast. The gala is not only a favorite of the fall social calendar but always benefits Enterprise for Youth, a 48-year-old organization that prepares young people for careers through training, guidance and employment experience.
Tucker was joined in her duties by OJ and Gary Shansby, Dede Wilsey, Laura King Pfaff; Allison Speer, Ken Fulk, Alexis and
Trevor Traina, and show director Ariane Trimuschat. And with this year’s theme, Flower Power, celebrating the 50th Summer of Love anniversary, there was no better honorary chairman than fashion designer
Andrew Gn, who winged in from Paris. Gn is heralded for his gorgeous gowns, often adorned with exquisite hand-embroidered florals. And fashion gals in the know paid tribute by wearing an array of swoonworthy styles from his eye-catching collections.
“This is my first antiques show here, and I love it,” enthused Gn, who was also in town for his biannual Betty Lin trunk show featuring his Spring/Summer 2018 Collection. “I saw a couple of very interesting dealers from Belgium, London and San Francisco. But I haven’t had time to shop yet.”
Gn is also a noted collector, especially of ceramics. And each of his three homes in Paris is rendered in a different style, from European Arts & Crafts to mid-century modernism.
“Having three homes in the same city can feel repetitive. So I’m looking at Lisbon now, in a different country, where I can create a new collection,” he explained sheepishly. “I know that’s crazy. Shopping is very dangerous for my bank account.”
Florals also dominated the show’s entry pavilion, where designers Kendall Wilkinson, Jay Jeffers, Pamela Babey and Edward Lobrano created Four Seasons-inspired vignettes, all framed with to-die-for hand-painted de Gournay wall treatments.
But amid the crush of some 2,000 guests, many of whom beelined for the McCalls buffet teeming with delicacies like caviar, sushi and mini lamb chops, many were stopped in their tracks by designer J. Riccardo Benavides’ clever display. Hanging overhead from their long stems was a bounty of colorful blooms.
“Everyone kept asking, ‘It’s so hot, Riccardo, how will these flowers last?’ They also wondered why no water was dripping from plastic tubes encasing the stems,” he said, with a twinkle. “Suzanne would look over at me and make a ‘zip-across-the-lip’ motion so I wouldn’t spill the beans that all those flowers are silk.” Last supper: It certainly won’t be the last meal at Alta Restaurant, the chic cantina tucked inside Minnesota Street Project. But it certainly was a special supper, hosted by Christie’s, for major collectors who alighted there to catch a rare glimpse of a painting by Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci.
On Nov. 15 in New York, “Salvator Mundi,” the first rediscovered Leonardo work since 1909, is the potential $100 million star at the auction house’s fall sales.
“No one in the modern art market has ever handled the sale of a Leonardo,” said Loïc Gouzer, Christie’s post-war and contemporary art chairman, who, in 2015, presided over a Christie’s sale that garnered the art world’s highest-ever auction price, $179 million, for Picasso’s “Les Femmes d’Alger.”
“Leonardo was the No. 1 Renaissance painter. You could say he was the original tech guy. That’s why San Francisco is the only American stop on this preview,” Gouzer said of the pit stop.
“There’s a correlation between Leonardo and people here involved in science and tech. So it’s a little wink-wink to local collectors.”
Leonardo did up the wow factor among other excellent works in the preview. But exiting the gallery, it seemed like overkill that SFPD officers were stationed outside this Dogpatch compound founded by Deborah and Andy Rappaport. That is, until an SUV with blacked-out windows arrived, followed by a Tesla.
Discreetly stepping away from dinner, Gouzer raced back to the gallery with some new guests: Tesla founder Elon Musk, actor Tobey Maguire and that other Leonardo with the last name of DiCaprio.
Alas, the starry trio was not there to mingle. But perhaps one of them caught Gouzer’s wink.