Thank You! Mille Grazie!
On Saturday November 17 we brought the artistic and eccentric spirit of the Marchesa Luisa Casati alive at the second annual AGO Art Bash--and did we ever have a delightful and memorable time! Thank you to all of our supporters and guests for helping us raise important funds to support AGO exhibitions and programs.
Augustus Edwin John. The Marchesa Casati, 1919. Oil on canvas, 96.5 x 68.6 cm. Purchase, 1934. © Art Gallery of Ontario
You might know her from one of the AGO’s most beloved paintings—a visitor Top Ten (left). The Marchesa Luisa Casati was, for the first three decades of the 20th century, Italy’s most significant patron of the arts and artistic muse.
An heiress to millions, she threw the most lavish and exotic costumed parties that attracted icons of the art world from across Europe and America to her Palazzo dei Leoni on the Grand Canal in Venice (now home to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection) and later at the Palais Rose in Versailles.
La Casati, as she was fondly known by Venetian locals, was as mysterious as she was alluring. Her appearance and fashions were always astounding, influencing many designers in the century since. Her rebellious behaviour (such as walking her pet cheetahs on jeweled leashed) shocked European society and her love of art fueled the careers of ground-breaking new Modern artists.
Art Bash! Casa Casati will take La Casati’s incredible and illustrious personality and parties as the avant-garde inspiration for this year’s event.
Marianne Guizzetti and Kathy Houde-Lovas
Vicky Bacardi, Susie Belton, Dean Bender, Sonja Berman, Aldo Cundari, Marlene DelZotto, Lisa Eaton, Andrea Federer, Angela Feldman, Ira Gluskin, Beth Horowitz, Gale Kelly, Deborah Lau-Yu, Myles Mindham, Sherri Neldner, Anjli Patel, Lisa Rothney, Laurel Sussman, Dee Dee Taylor Eustace, Liz Tory, Owen Tseng, Robin Turack
Art Bash! Casa Casati is sold out, thank you to all our generous supporters!
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