Museum Hosts ‘Impressionist’ Preview

Julian Ganz Jr. and the trustees of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Dr. Armand Hammer are inviting guests for a preview reception of the exhibition, “Impressionist to Early Modern Paintings from the U.S.S.R.” on June 25 at the museum. Works from the Hermitage Museum, Leningrad, and the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, will be exhibited.

The effort is a cooperative endeavor of the Ministry of Culture of the U.S.S.R., the Hermitage, the Pushkin, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Armand Hammer Foundation and the Los Angeles museum. Major funding comes from Occidental Petroleum Corp. The exchange also is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Also open for the evening viewing will be “The Art of the European Goldsmith: Silver From the Schroder Collection” and “Art Nouveau Jewelry by Rene Lalique.”

Constance Towers headed to Mexico City this weekend for a round of farewell parties saluting her and her husband, John Gavin, U.S. ambassador to Mexico for the past five years. He leaves office officially today. The Gavins hosted their own party Friday evening at the embassy (joined by all four of their children). Saturday evening they presided over the American Embassy Assn. Ball, then left for Acapulco for today’s affair hostessed by the Baroness de Portaneuva. Today, Connie Towers, star of the CBS soap opera “Capitol,” plans to stand in as godmother for the first communion of a girl orphaned in the Mexico City earthquake. She plans to continue to work locating homes and medical care for disabled and orphaned children.

On June 9 president Jack L. Stark, his wife Jil and the board of trustees of Claremont McKenna College are celebrating the college’s 40th anniversary and the announcement of the Campaign for Claremont McKenna College: Leaders in the Making. The event is black-tie and will be held at the Grand Ballroom of the Beverly Wilshire.

Ellen and Norman Cousins (he’s the author of 19 books and recipient of awards including the United Nations Peace Medal) will be co-recipients of the Neil H. Jacoby International Award on Friday at a star-studded gala at the Beverly Wilshire. The award will be presented by Dr. Franklin D. Murphy, founder and member of the honorary board of the International Student Center at UCLA. Lots of fun: Burt Reynolds will be master of ceremonies, Dudley Moore will be at the piano, and Sid Caesar and Dom DeLuise will perform.

Chairing the event are Student Center board member Katherine Lurie and Robert K. Wrede. Assisting are Jean Stone, Robert Cohn, Mrs. Kenneth Leventhal, Nat Dumont, Mrs. Samuel Schulman and Stan Dashew. Jackie Dubey, director of development, is dinner coordinator. Promising to aid the program intended to enhance world peace by extending a welcoming hand to international students at UCLA are Lee and Arola DuBridge, Joan B. Kroc, Anna Bing Arnold, the Karl Maldens, Paul Newman, Shirley MacLaine, the Jack Lemmons, the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, Edward Asner, Kurt Vonnegut and Dr. Michael DeBakey.

It will be a joyous occasion Thursday. Ronald and Alda Mills Stever of Pasadena and Montecito have given USC $1.5 million for the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center, the USC Comprehensive Cancer Center and a third program yet to be designated. Thus, president Dr. James H. and Marilyn Zumberge host an intimate candlelight dinner in their paneled living room. Among the guests will be Ronald’s brother, Kenneth, and his wife, Betty; the honored Stevers’ son, Richard, and his wife, Virginia; Dr. Joseph Van Der Meulen, vice president for health affairs; chancellor emeritus Dr. Norman Topping; and the Joseph Cannells and the Charles Mungers.

For his exceptional contributions to aviation history, the Aviation and Space Historical Preservation Committee of the California Museum Foundation and the California Museum of Science and Industry host a reception Tuesday honoring J. Leland Atwood. It will be in the Aerospace Museum at the museum.

Mrs. Glen Holden is chairman of the third annual Golden Mallet Invitational Polo Tournament and Gala at the Santa Barbara Polo Racquet Club on July 13. To hit things off, and to meet players on the American and Argentine teams competing in the USPA America Cup in July (a prestigious event in the world of international polo), she hosted a luncheon at the Regency Club in Westwood this week.