Business Finance Media Technology Policy Wealth Insights Interviews

Art Art Fairs Art Market Art Reviews Auctions Galleries Museums Interviews

Lifestyle Nightlife & Dining Style Travel Interviews

Power Index Nightlife & Dining Art A.I. PR

About About Observer Advertise With Us Reprints

Old Master Grandeur and Modern Patronage Converge at the 2026 Norton Museum of Art Gala

Artistic authority, financial capital, and social influence came together to celebrate the enduring legacy of 17th-century Dutch painting.

The Norton Museum of Art’s annual gala has in recent years become a consequential stop on the winter social calendar for artsy snowbirds. This year’s fête drew nearly 700 guests to the institution not only for cocktails, dinner and dancing but also for a live auction hosted by Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, with works by Julie Curtiss, Jeffrey Gibson, Jessie Henson and Marilyn Minter. The program, officiated by Norton director and CEO Ghislain d’Humières, honored museum trustee Ronnie Heyman and artist Loie Hollowell, whose own Blue brain on flesh shoulders (2025) was included in the live sale.

Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

The gala’s atmosphere was itself a carefully orchestrated nod to “Art and Life in Rembrandt’s Time: Masterpieces from the Leiden Collection,” on view at the museum through March 29. Gala co-chairs Audrey Gruss, Sue Hostetler and Josephine Kalisman, alongside vice chairs Candace Barasch, Lorna James, collector Beth Rudin DeWoody, Lisa Tananbaum and Silvia Zoullas, collaborated with designer Chris Hessney to transform the space into a living homage to 17th-century Dutch still lifes. Candlelit tables, heavy velvet and lush arrangements of flowers created a tableau that vividly echoed the opulence and theatricality of the Old Masters.

But, as is often the case, it was the gala’s guest list that revealed the true currency of the evening: generosity. The event raised nearly $5 million to support the museum’s curatorial, learning and community engagement programs, the fundraising efforts fueled by a concentrated mix of cultural power brokers, financial titans and legacy-defining collectors. Among the VIPs were collectors Mera Rubell and Don Rubell, whose family collection has helped shape the canon of contemporary art, Hilary Ross and Wilbur Ross (the billionaire financier and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce), and Jim Karp and Irene Karp.

Also in attendance were fashion power couple Tommy Hilfiger and Dee Hilfiger, philanthropists Kimberly Bluhm and Neil Bluhm, Martin Gruss and Audrey Gruss and Lew Sanders and Ali Sanders, as well as Warhol muse Jane Holzer, actor George Hamilton and artist Maynard Monrow. Billionaire business leaders Aerin Lauder and Julia Koch rounded out the roster at an event that placed artistic prestige and economic power on equal footing in service of not only the museum’s mission but also the broader artistic and civic life of Palm Beach.

Tommy and Dee Hilfiger

Sophocles and Silvia Zoullas

Aerin Lauder and Julia Koch

Alina de Almeida Paulson and John Paulson

Ashley Holzer, Rusty Holzer and Jane Holzer

Caroline Fitzgibbons and Tad Smith

Rick Salomon and Laura Landro

Nikki Harris and Bruce and Lori Gendelman

Mitchell and Hilarie Morgan

Maynard Monrow, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Mera and Don Rubell

Martin and Audrey Gruss

Lorna James, Keith James and Sarah Alsofrom

Kimberly and Neil Bluhm

Kelly Williams and Andrew Forsyth

Kathryn and Leo Vecellio

Katherine Bryan and George Hamilton

Josh and Victoria Harlan

Jim and Irene Karp and Bill Bone

Ji Ang Song and Young Song

Hilary and Wilbur Ross.

Heidi and Thomas McWilliams

Ghislain d’Humieres, Ronnie Heyman and Kelly Williams

Francine and Euclid Walker

Daisy Soros and Carol Moran

SEE ALSO: Masterpieces from Agnes Gund’s Collection Will Headline Christie’s May Marquee Auctions

We noticed you're using an ad blocker.

We get it: you like to have control of your own internet experience. But advertising revenue helps support our journalism. To read our full stories, please turn off your ad blocker.We'd really appreciate it.

How Do I Whitelist Observer?

Below are steps you can take in order to whitelist Observer.com on your browser:

Click the AdBlock button on your browser and select Don't run on pages on this domain.

For Adblock Plus on Google Chrome:

Click the AdBlock Plus button on your browser and select Enabled on this site.

For Adblock Plus on Firefox:

Click the AdBlock Plus button on your browser and select Disable on Observer.com.

© Observer