A $157,000 Fairy Tale Ending at The Whitney

The Ornellaia Fete raised $157,000 for the Whitney Museum of American Arts Conservation Department last week. Sotheby’s held a live, world-wide auction of 23 large-format bottles autographed by artists Ghada Amer and Reza Farkondeh of the Ornellaia 2007 Vendemmia D’Artista ‘L’Armonia’ project.

The grand prize went to Gelasio Gaetani Lovatella D’Aragona for $45,000. His bid included a 9-liter Salmanazar with a hand-painted cloth label bearing the words “Happily Ever After,”  and a luxurious stay at the Ornellaia estate in Tuscany.

Guests in attendance included Actor/Director Alan Rickman, Whitney Biennial curator Francesco Bonami, Whitney Museum of American Art Trustee Tom Tuft, collectors John and Amy Phelan, Massimo and Chiara Ferragamo, Veronica Bulgari and Stefan Haimo, Dana Hammond and Patrick Stubgen, Michael and Tara Rockefeller, Shirin Von Wulffen and Frederic Fekkai, Dr. Lisa Airan, Gelasio Gaetani Lovatelli d’Aragona, Sotheby’s Chairman of Worldwide Contemporary Art Tobias Meyer, and Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art Adam Weinberg.