L.A.’s Art Lovers Let the Good Times Roll and Roll and Roll

The festivities celebrating the opening of the Museum of Contemporary Art kept right on going--moving Wednesday night from MOCA’s downtown home to the Bistro Garden in Beverly Hills.

Art lovers, art buyers, artists, patrons were there--just no art. Unless one counts the Oriental-style centerpieces of bamboo and amaryllis that David Jones created to rise up from the clouds of pink tableclothes.

Hey, the good times continued to roll. Some of the evening’s hosts--that list included Doug Cramer, Bea and Phil Gersh, Jane and Marc Nathanson, Eli and Edythe Broad (but she was home sick), Lennie and Bernard Greenberg, Gordon Hampton, Bill and Keith Kieschnick, Joan and Fred Nicholas, Robert and Laura-Lee Woods--were part of the crush at the Garden’s front door.

Coming in--Lili Belli (husband Melvin busy selling his 55th book), artist Helen Frankenthaler in from New York, architect Arata Isozaki and his wife Aiko, Marcia Weisman, Peter and Brooke Haywood Duchin, artist James Rosenquist, Daisy Belin (a MOCA trustee) and her husband, Daniel, president of the board of the County Museum of Art.

Names. Names. Names. What’s in a name anyway? Merry Norris said her very individual moniker was always being misspelled. Its origin? Well, she really started out as just Mary, but, “from the time I was a baby, I was Merry.” And, it’s frequently misspelled, and “naturally I have a small identity crisis when that happens.”

Her husband, Appellate Justice William Norris, arrived late from downtown--and he had another annoyance. Once again, in a week of pictures being taken for publication, he had missed the photographer. “And after all,” he said, “there is only one husband-and-wife team listed on the MOCA wall (telling the history of the museum). Merry and me.”

Norris, along with the Kieschnicks, Greenbergs and Nicholases, were detained downtown at a party sponsored by IBM, which picked up the tab for the inaugural exhibit. When a ebullient Lennie Greenberg arrived, her talk was not of art--but of dogs, and dog lovers. Last month, the New York Times Magazine ran a large picture of her--holding her dog, Sparky. Since then she has gotten two letters from dog owners in New York, wanting to know the breed of Sparky, so they could identify their own similar pets of dubious origin. Problem is, Greenberg laughed, “Sparky’s a mutt, too.”

The Bistro Garden’s normally table-crowded outside had been cleared and a dance floor installed. Wallis Annenberg, with Dr. John Gervace, chatted with Adele and Ira Yellin. They only entered the crowded inside when it was time to sit down to dinner, following Annenberg’s philosophy: “The best thing about going to a party like this is to stake out your preserve and hold it.” And, who was there to chat with but artist Ed Ruscha (he’d been out in the desert all day with architect Isozaki) and his wife Danna (that’s from the Czechoslovakian, she said, “which no one can pronounce”). Ruscha, responsible for the stunning Gary Hart poster for the 1984 campaign, said he was “ready to do it again.” And then suddenly, the fabulous two-tone souffles--half Grand Marnier and half chocolate arrived. “Like my movie, ‘Soul Man,’ ” quipped Steve Tisch, “half white and half black.”

Earlier in the day, MOCA hospitality chairs Peggy Phelps and Jane Nathanson hosted a luncheon at trendy Trumps (the restaurant picked up the tab) for 75 out-of-town art collectors and museum directors. A very filling afternoon for both body and soul, as Michael Robert’s salmon and grapefruit pasta was followed by art tours of the homes of Marcia Weisman, comic Steve Martin, and the Gershes.

One last sight--Marc Nathanson waiting for a car to take him to Van Nuys Airport. Seems as though he’s on a 40-city, 12-day tour promoting the public offering of Falcon Cable Systems--and it just happened to coincide with the opening of MOCA. So he was commuting daily in order to party.

LIKE THE EIFFEL TOWER--Wait. Was it really Cafe Society’s Patrick Terrail serving up coffee now that his Hollywood Diner is open for breakfast? Yep. And indeed it was Princess Stephanie and the new constant-consort, Vertigo’s Marco Oliver, who showed up for lunch.

KUDOS--The California Medical Center along with heavy hitters from the downtown business and cultural community gathered Tuesday night to celebrate the $5-million gift from the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation. In addition to Dorothy Leavey, John C. Argue, Bella Lewitzky, Carter Hawley Hale’s Andrea Van de Kamp and Christopher Stewart were on hand.

MORE DOWNTOWN--Close to 1,000 supporters of the “Save the Books” campaign of the downtown library showed up to party Wednesday night. Their $25 contribution brought a good deal of good times--since the recently re-done downtown Robinson’s and American Express underwrote the festivities. A very young crowd--taking time between trendy pizza and make-your-own tacos to have facials and shaves.