Last Monday night The Frick held their annual Autumn Dinner – their annual fundraiser – and they honored the Duke of Devonshire, with a focus on collecting and the important and inspirational role that his family have played on “stewardship and preservation” of their great and famous country house “Chatsworth.” It was a perfect choice. Old Mr. Frick visited Chatsworth a century ago and came away deeply inspired by the centuries of accumulation and collection of the Cavendish family.

Christine and Stephen Schwarzman

The Frick Collection events draw something of a crossover crowd with the the big International Art and Antique Show although there are differences since The Frick retains its connections to the family and their wide circle of friends and associates. For example, it is fitting that an English duke would be their guest of honor. Hardly what we’d call glitzy, in New York fund-raising terms, but definitely what we’d call uppah-uppah, distinguished and if not austere (definitely not), at least subdued.

Charles Ryskamp, who has been associated with the venerable Collection for a lifetime, was Honorary Chair. Co-Chairs were Mary Stone Phipps and Christine Hearst Schwarzman. For the first time in the history of The Frick, they used the West (what I mistakenly call the Green Gallery) and East Galleries because they had such a big turnout. Almost 200 were seated at two long tables in the West Gallery. Paintings were specially lit and so the the green walls and gold ceiling had a magical effect. Although, because it was the gallery, filled with the Collections priceless paintings, there was NO red wine served at dinner. A bit out of joint were some of the equine noses, you could say. ‘Fraid a spills, you know.

Between the main course and dessert there were speeches. Anne Poulet, Director of The Frick, opened the evening. Helen Clay Chace read a quotation from Jane Austin which was set in a fictional house based on Chatsworth. She then introduced the 12th Duke and presented him with a commemorative silver tray. Mrs. Chace is a great-granddaughter of Henry Clay Frick. She’s served on the board for a quarter century and in December she will step down as President of the Board.

Then the duke took the podium. As you might expect in your classical fancies, he was wonderfully witty. He began by saying how nice it was “to be honored in a room” (a very very grand room) that was “the equivalent of the breakfast room at Chatsworth.” He talked about the challenge of maintaining such a great country house especially after the death of the 10th duke in the early 1950s when the family was taxed 80% of all assets. It took them 17 years to pay off the debt. He credited his parents (his mother is Debo, one of the legendary Mitford sisters) who took up the mission that served as an inspiration to all museums and historic sites. He talked about what his family now plans to do in managing Chatsworth.

The Frick mansion was beautifully set out for the black tie evening. The Garden Court and West Gallery, Oval Room, and East Gallery were lush with flowers, the selection of which was inspired by a book on Chatsworth’s gardens and greenhouses. In the court, the cut flowers were blue and purple Clematis Jackmanii. The flowers in the entrance were blue hydrangea, and there were large displays throughout of Dendrobium, Vanda, Phalaenopsis, Arachnia, and Clematis orchids. Even the menu was inspired by the Chatsworth cookbook. A very special and very grand evening produced the largest sum for an event at The Frick Collection: $500,000.

Names, names, names and more names. Last Thursday was the 17th Anniversary Preview Party for the International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show, held for the benefit of the Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. It is their big annual fund-raiser and everyone makes a very special effort to see that it succeeds.

Big glittery crowd, platinum-plated guestlist including Pat Altschul, Cetie Ames, Rand and Jesse Araskog, Irene Aitken, Dixon and Arianna Boardman, Paul Beirne, Friederike Biggs, Millie Brin, Nancy Richardson, Alexia Hamm Ryan, Lily Safra, Pamela Banker, Ann and Steven Ames, D. D. Allen, Wendy Carduner, Harold Varmus and Constance Casey, Edward Lee Cave, Charles and Clo Cohen, Mario, Janna Bullock, John and Polly Espy, Chris and Grace Meigher, Jamie Drake, Bonnie and Charles Evans, Sheryl and Barry Schwartz, William Secord, Mrs. Minot Milliken, Nazee Moinian, Anka Palitz, Toni Peebler, Chappy Morris and Melissa Stanley, Sam Micahels, Robert Couturier, Melvin Dwork, Faith and Phil Geier, Elizabeth and Patrick Gerschel, Jill and David Gilmour, Toni Goodale, Lorna and Larry Graev, Joan McGovern, Louise Stephaich, Marilyn Friedland, Jonathan Farkas, Patrick Gallagher, Gill Fuller, Nina Griscom, Gail Hilson, Caroline Hirsch, Soledad and Bob Hurst, Mai Hallingby Harrison, Victoria Hagan and Michael Berman, Debbie and Allen Grubman, Robyn and Ken Joseph, Konrad Kessee, Calvin Klein, David Kleinberg, Jacques Leviant, Wendy Vanderbilt Lehman, Darcy Leeds and George Gould, Margo Langenberg, Emily Fisher Landau, Stephanie Krieger and Brian Stewart, Linda and Sandy Lindenbaum, Karen and Richard LeFrak, Bettina Zilkha, Christopher Walling, Bennett and Judie Weinstock, Karl Wellner, Robert A.M. Stern, Margaretta Taylor, Topsy Taylor, Bunny Williams and John Rosselli, Michael and Carole Friedman, Kristina and Guy Wildenstein, Sheila and George Stephenson, Kathy Sloane, Dana and Dr. Patrick Stubgen, Andrea Stark and a cast of thousands.

Lavinia Snyder and Henri Barguirdjian

Vice-chairs this year were Courtney Allinson Arnot, Marie and Henri Barguirdjian, Hilary Califano, Jan Calloway, Shelley Carr, Alicia Bouzan-Cordon, Jennifer Creel, Bambi de la Gueronniere, Jackie Drak, Hilary Geary, Rachel Hovnanian, Robyn Joseph, Grace Meigher, Helen Schifter, Clelia Zacharias, Emilia Fanjul, Somers Farkas, Anne Eisenhower Flottl, Jane Gammill, Sallie Giordano, Michael Grovemen, Coco Kopelman, Tom Guinzburg, Eleanora Kennedy (they have a lot of vice-chairs, no?); Alexandra Lind Rose, Marjorie Rosen, Donna Rosen, Shelley Carr, Andi Davis, Webb Egerton-Warburton, Heather Leeds, Helena Martinez, Karen May, Leslie Perkin, Pilar Crespi Robert, Christine Hearst Schwarzman, Felicia Taylor, Kathy Araskog Thomas, Patsy Warner, Martha Glass.

Honorary chairs were Jessie Araskog, Muffie Potter Aston, Susan Burke, Virginia Burke, Mary Carpenter, Mary Davidson, Barbara Gimbel, Joanne de Guardiola, Jamee Gregory, Leslie Jones, Julia and David Koch, Evelyn Lauder, Karen LeFrak, Nicole Limbocker, Carroll Petrie, Betty Sherrill, Daisy Soros, and Blaine Trump.

Eugenie Niven was Junior Collectors Committee Chairman. Her father Jamie Niven and Pat Buckley were Connoisseur Chairmen. Graff and Bill Blass Ltd were co-sponsors.

Susan Bodnar and Lavinia Snyder were co-chairs. And that, ladies and gentlemen (those actually) is why the International Art and Antique Show Preview Party is, year after year, an enormous fund-raising success. And, ultimately, the crown jewel in the opening of the autumn social season in New York.

As far as the exhibits were concerned: it was the top of the crop – more than a quarter billion dollars in fine art and antiques were exhibited for sale. Plus there was the Graff jewelry by the millions and millions in display cases including a 40-carat E-flawless diamond. The show runs through this coming Thursday, October 27th from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Seventh Regiment Armory, Park Avenue at 67th Street.

Chie Imai wowwed ‘em at the St. Regis Rooftop when Mai Harrison hosted a Chie Mai fur fashion show for a large group of friends. They were all clamoring for a front row view of Japan’s premier fur designer. The designer made a generous contribution of a percentage of the proceeds from sales to Mai’s pet charity, the New York Botanical Garden. In the crowd: Victoria Gotti, Janice Combs, Tinsley Mortimer, Donald Trump Jr. and his fiance Vanessa Haydon; Cornelia Bregman, Audrey Gruss, Felicia Taylor, Lucia Hwong-Gordon, Cristina Greeven Cuomo, Zani Gugelman, Michèle Gerber Klein, Melissa Berklehammer, Tina Louise, and singer/ songwriter Sylvia Tosun.

As guests finished cocktails and took their seats, Imai, perched on the runway, introduced Chie’s collection. This is the fourth season for Chie, who previously was the exclusive designer to the Japanese Royal Family. She is creating an imaginative and innovative collection featuring traditional fur coats and wraps, mixed with funky short skirts and colorful tops. It is also Chie’s fourth season at her flagship store, Royal Chie at 635 Madison Avenue at 59th St.

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