From Surrealist art sculptures to Pop-Art-inspired centerpieces, here are ideas for incorporating famous artists' aesthetics into your next meeting or event.
HMR Design Group's decor at the 2012 gala was inspired by Roy Lichtenstein's painting "Whaam!" "Giant crossed mirror shards exploding from a mirrored table splashed the artist's primary colors against the blank white canvas of Griffin Hall at the Modern Wing," said designer Bill Heffernan.
At Diffa's event in New York in 2013, Rachel Laxer Interiors with Robert Kuo designed an ode to Rococo painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard with a centerpiece of moody floral arrangements and fresh fruit.
At the 2009 event, flowery swings by Frick horticulturist Galen Lee were inspired by Fragonard's "Passage of Love" panels.
In celebration of its Marc Chagall exhibition in 2011, the Art Gallery of Ontario hosted the Chagall Ball. With the help of McNabb Roick Events and the Idea Shop, the gallery offered entertainment inspired by the artist. Screens covered the archways in Walker Court and hired actors with animal masks and instruments sat behind them. Lights projected their shadows onto the screens.
In 2011, the Phillips Collection wrapped up a yearlong celebration of the museum’s 90th anniversary with “Birthday Bash,” a 10-hour long event open to the public that included free admission to the permanent collection and the “Degas’s Dancers at the Barre: Point and Counterpoint” exhibition. Ballerinas from the Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington practiced warming up before a rehearsal, just like the dancers in Degas’s paintings in the room next door.
"Monet's Garden" was the theme for a 2013 baby shower planned by A Little Savvy Event. Held at a private residence in Sonoma, California, the event had a ceiling treatment of tiny upside-down pink bouquets. "We wanted the space to echo the flowers and lush feel in Monet's garden, as well as give it a whimsical, magical feel," said planner Kelly McLeskey-Dolata. Inspired by the French countryside, the menu included Camembert cheese tarts, ratatouille, and three types of quiche from local purveyors.
Chicago artist Hebru Brantley blew out the candles on a stack of abnormally sweet soup cans last year. The local Alliance Bakery created the eye-catching confection for Brantley's birthday bash, an April affair that was presented by Hennessy Black and held at Lacuna Artist Lofts. Weighing about 30 pounds, the red velvet cake with cream-cheese frosting was inspired by a classic Pop-Art image. “The idea came about by trying to capture the Warhol cans, in a way that would serve 100 people,” said the bakery's owner and executive chef, Peter Rios. “The cake was constructed over two days and was entirely hand-painted.”
At Art Basel Miami Beach, even the food is a work of art. In 2012, a chocolate sculpture of Andy Warhol was part decor, part catering at the Andy Warhol Museum and KIWI Arts Group launch of "William John Kennedy: The Warhol Museum Edition" at the Villa by Barton G.
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles's annual gala in 2011 drew 750 patrons who covered their clever and expensive outfits with white lab coats, and then ate their dinner as apparently disembodied heads, positioned as table centerpieces, stared at them unrelentingly. Performance artist Marina Abramović served as the artistic director for the event, produced by Bounce. The human tabletop centerpieces wore black turtlenecks and rotated on cushioned lazy Susans beneath the rectangular tables. They were allowed to communicate with the guests—but only nonverbally—and were required to keep eye contact.
The art of Salvador Dali came to life in 2011 at Sueños de Dali, the final event in a series of grand opening celebrations for the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. An ice sculpture of a melting clock was inspired by one of Dali's most famous works, "The Persistence of Memory."
To launch new cocktails in 2006, Brasserie Frisco in Toronto hosted a bash inspired by Vincent van Gogh. The highlighted beverage was "Van Gogh's Ear," an absinthe-based cocktail.
