Camera: the $1,500-a-plate fundraiser celebrating the new Marc Chagall exhibit at the AGO

By Fraser Abe | November 17, 2011

By Fraser Abe | 11/17/2011

By Fraser Abe | Photography by George Pimentel Photography

Camera: Chagall Ball — (Image: George Pimentel Photography)

October 15, AGO. If ever there were an event to rouse the city’s tastemaking, power-brokering elite, the $1,500-a-plate fundraiser celebrating the new Marc Chagall exhibit at the AGO was it. Outside, at least nine valets parked Beemers and Bentleys. Inside, ladies dazzled in sequins and feathers while men toed the sartorial line in black tuxedos. Bottles of Stolichnaya took the place of centrepieces, so the crowd was well lubricated by the time the event’s honorary chair, Norman Jewison, rose to speak about the painting (titled The Fiddler) that he donated to the exhibit. He told the story of how he purchased the work at an auction in London, a rollicking tale that involved an overzealous cab driver and a spot-on Cockney accent. When he received a standing ovation, he seemed touched, but astutely credited the Stoli shots for loosening his tongue and the crowd.

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2 thoughts on “Camera: the $1,500-a-plate fundraiser celebrating the new Marc Chagall exhibit at the AGO”

lola says:

November 18, 2011 at 12:34 pm

I always get a laugh at Suzanne Rogers’ permanent deer-in-the-headlights look.
Rumpled Stilts's Kin says:

November 25, 2011 at 10:00 am

I think from the tenor of the story I am supposed to like and admire these dreary waxworks, especially with all the B&W post-prod to make them look just so very very, but instead as usual they make me feel as though I am bobbing for apples in a toilet and the toilet’s not otherwise empty. Except Don McKellar: like Don McKellar. Also, he’s making such a fucked-up face — “Oh God somebody kill me before I have to hear one more word of your drivel” — that I feel he’s like a stand-in for me, just not a good-looking. Makes me happy I’m poor and can’t go to shit like this. Good show, though.