| EVENT REPORT 05.24.07 4:43 PM |
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| Black, White, and Red All Over |
Film noir inspired the decor for the Phillips Collection's second annual gala.
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| Taking a cue from the current “Moving Pictures: American Art and Early Film” exhibit, the Phillips Collection hosted a black-and-white gala on May 4, with decor and flowers from New York-based designer David Tutera. “The look is very crisp, clean, modern meets old world, because you’re in a modern art museum, and focusing on a vintage-themed exhibit,” Tutera said. |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party" was the backdrop for the long table in the main gallery.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Four different table designs occupied 12 galleries, seating from 12 to 110. Paper film strips were used to wrap the napkins.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Design Cuisine served chocolate fudge brownies wrapped in meringue on lollipop sticks, which were plunged into a bowl of sugar.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | A red tent offered guests an outdoor alternate to the dancing in the ballroom at the after party held at the Anderson House.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Phillips Collection event planner Allison Signorelli used LED "candles" to avoid the risk of open flame in a museum.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Flowers were kept to a minimum at the after party, with small arrangements of red roses and petals adorning the dessert tables.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Musicians played in each gallery.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | The smaller floral arrangements featured white calla lilies and black stones submerged in water-filled clear oblong vases.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Polka-dotted fabric covered tables during the cocktail hour.
Photo: BizBash |
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More than 400 black-and-white clad guests entered the museum via a red carpet and the women received red feather boas (a hint at the scarlet notes to be found at the after-party). Cocktails and passed hors d’oeuvres from Design Cuisine Caterers floated through the museum’s ground level and courtyard, while dinner was served in various upstairs galleries, allowing the guests, including D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, to eat amidst the collection. Tutera created four different table themes, each playing up the black-and-white theme taken from old films. Centerpieces featured white casa blanca lilies, roses, hydrangea, Phalaenopsis orchids, and black and white feathers, all resting in tall glass vases wrapped in paper film strips.
For Phillips Collection event planner Allison Signorelli, who works part-time for the collection as well as other clients, living up to last year’s luxe French-themed bash was as much of a challenge as protecting the museum’s works. “Last year we opened the new building, and so the event was about that,” she said. “It was sort of easy to generate excitement in that way. This year was the follow-up, the sophomore effort. But I think we’ve been successful.”
After dinner, the fete moved down the street to the Anderson House for an all-red post-party designed by Tutera to evoke old Hollywood glamour (that old warhorse of design inspiration). Dancing took place in the venue’s two-story ballroom (drenched in red lighting), with music provided by the Glenn Pearson Orchestra, while Design Cuisine served desserts in the lush red tent in the garden.
—Anne E. Stewart
RELATED TOPICS
Phillips Collection
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