Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2010 > September > 30 > Entry
Preview Dinner for “Turner to Monet” at the Blanton Museum of Art
The mood turned a bit solemn when Blanton Museum of Art director Ned Rifkin nodded gracefully to University of Texas President William Powers Jr., honoring his leadership during the previous day’s campus shooting. Otherwise, the dinner set inside the Blanton’s dreamy blue lobby was all about the 19th Century. The moment: “Turner to Monet: Masterpieces of the Walters Collection” waiting for us in the nearby galleries.
Jack and Ginger Blanton
We’ll leave the description of the art — and how it got to Austin — to arts writer Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, who will roll out an ample story on the Walters loan soon. We’ll confine our observations instead on the the people, places and scenes connected to the preview dinner for the show, expected to be the most popular in the Blanton’s history.
Ann Butler and Genie Miller
Why? Because, as everyone over cocktails and dinner repeated: Austinites have longed for a full banquet the 19th century arts. Except for some targeted exhibits, it’s the missing link between the Old Masters and 20th & 21st Century works we already enjoy in abundance. Dignified guests soaked up the 40 mostly large canvases with plenty of elbow room, which will probably not be the case for viewers during the regular run of the show.
Other tabletop topics: Spoiled children, new restaurants, Marfa, Austin City Limits, military families, far-flung travel, Killeen High School (I sat between two Kangaroos).
Wilson and Janet Allen
This was no black-tie event. Still, the limited tables sparkled with social charisma: Ginger and Jack Blanton, Mary Ann and former UT President Larry Faulkner, UT Provost Steven Leslie, Teresa and Joe Long, Earnest and Sarah Butler, Eddie Safady, Larry Connelly and James Armstrong, Jo Anne Christian, Ann Butler, Nancy and retired Admiral Bobby Inman, John and Carolyn Young, Dorothy and Sam Winters and Joe Holt.
With this gang of power players, one could talk about a future for the 19th-century in Austin.
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