As guests huddled in front of Renaissance masterpieces, all topics drew back to Selldorf’s breathtaking renovation—the museum’s most comprehensive upgrade in ninety years, which restored its historic spaces, increased accessibility, and created new rooms for public programming, including second-floor galleries, a sweeping auditorium, a gift shop, and a well-decorated café.
Attendees took their seats, surrounded by renowned Old Master paintings—a self-portrait by Rembrandt, Mistress and Maid by Jan Vermeer, and St. Francis in the Desert by Giovanni Bellini—on emerald-green walls. The atmosphere felt warm and celebratory, yet poised and proper, with the glowing laylight ceiling above in dialogue with a rich chocolate-brown tablescape by Marfala below. The ethereal table, dotted with vases of overflowing lilies and mushroom-shaped lights, also played backdrop for minaudières and beaded pochettes, as well as folded hands resting at the table edge, waiting for applause.
“After last year’s opening gala, we are so happy to host the first annual Autumn Dinner back in our beautiful galleries, in the Frick’s renovated home,” said Elizabeth Mugar Eveillard, the chair of the Board of Trustees of the Frick Collection. “There is so much to be celebrated. The renovation is still very much front and center of the Frick. The revitalization of our building has been such a gift to the institution and we’ve been so gratified by the warm response by museum-goers in New York, and around the country and the world.”
Praise for Selldorf and her award-winning renovation was shown through clinking glasses, applause, and smiles around the room, as waiters in single file arrived with decadent dishes. Over dinner, table conversation continued about younger audiences, emerging patronage, and Selldorf’s fitting role—all parts of the Frick’s new history.
“Annabelle was the perfect choice for this renovation,” said Monika McLennan, a longtime Frick trustee, who also sits on the board of the World Monuments Fund alongside Selldorf. “She is an incredible woman who has a strong appreciation for cultural heritage and preserving history.”
