KAWS Honored At The New York Academy Of Art’s Annual Tribeca Ball

A glamorous evening underwritten by Van Cleef & Arpels, the 24th annual Tribeca Ball brought out venerable names in art, fashion, and media. This year’s Tribeca Ball honored New Jersey-born fine art phenomenon, Brian Donnelly, better known as KAWS, whose painting recently smashed auction records, selling for $14.7 million. Grammy award-winning producer and Haute Living cover star Swizz Beatz co-chaired the event.

The décor for the evening was inspired by the iconic clover motif of Van Cleef & Arpels’ Alhambra collection. During cocktail hour, guests including Coco Rocha, Donna Karan, Nicole Miller, Brooke Shields, Liev Schreiber, and Naomi Watts, enjoyed five floors of gilded stilt walkers pouring champagne, live art-making demonstrations, and musicians while mingling with art students in their studio spaces. Prior to heading down to dinner by renowned chef Daniel Boulud, the art-lovers in attendance picked up a few pieces to add to their personal collections.

The gala raised over $850,000 to support scholarships for student artists and public programs. Founded in 1982 by a group of artists including Andy Warhol, the school’s original mission was to encourage classical technique, figurative art, and critical analysis in the New York art scene.

All images courtesy of BFA.