Hockney Will Be Honored at Splashy Bash

Warning: This social scoop is so delicious it may make you fat.

Artist David Hockney--famous for his stylized portrayals of the California good life--will be honored by Renee and Henry Segerstrom at a very private party at Gustaf Anders restaurant Sept. 2 after the opening of his exhibit at the Modern Museum of Art in Santa Ana.

The glittering dinner for 60 is significant for three reasons. First and foremost, it celebrates the genius of Hockney (whose tour de force style has been compared to that of Henri Matisse) while putting the upstart museum--founded a mere two years ago--on the central county arts map.

Second, it marks one of those rare, public-but-private parties that only Renee can give (will we ever forget the down-to-the-last-detail elegance of the Center Club lunch that Orange County’s A-hostess planned for the Swedish royals in 1987?).

And third, it puts Gustaf Anders, formerly of La Jolla, squarely on the power-bistro map.

Festivities will begin fashionably late, at 9 p.m., after Hockney and museum members christen the exhibit, which will consist of paintings, photo collages and prints, some produced on a Canon copier and a fax machine. To attend this splashy bash, one should call the museum to find out how to become a regular member or join its 714 Club for major donors.

The guest list is hush-hush, but friends of the Los Angeles artist--such as Santa Ana’s Don Cribb--nears and dears of the Segerstroms, and must-invite politicos are on the list.

The menu? The kind of melt-in-your-mouth morsels that Anders, at South Coast Plaza Village, is famous for: gravad lax (marinated salmon) with dill mustard sauce; filet of beef with morels served up in a Stilton cheese and red-wine sauce; and fresh peach pie paved with almond crust and topped with berries and Chantilly cream. Parducci Wine Cellars, which is underwriting the exhibit on behalf of the Santa Ana Council of Arts and Culture for about $25,000, will donate the wines. The exhibit will continue through Nov. 5.

Live! In concert!: Milton Berle, Rosemary Clooney, Bobby Goldsboro, Donald O’Connor and Danny Thomas are set to perform at the second annual American Cinema Awards Foundation Gala and Auction on Oct. 14 at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim.

Last year’s benefit, highlighted by the appearance of Shirley Temple, was sold out twice, when it became so overbooked it was moved to a larger venue and scores still had to be turned away.

Cocktails and a silent auction with loads of movie memorabilia will begin at 6 p.m. Dinner and a live auction are set for 8. The show goes on at 9.

Dinner chairmen are John and Donna Crean of Newport Beach. Among those serving on their committee: Judie and George Argyros, Georgia Frontiere, Jolene and Tom Fuentes, Sheriff Brad Gates, Willa Dean and William Lyon, and Orange County supervisors Roger Stanton, Gaddi Vasquez, Tom Riley, Don Roth and Harriett Wieder.

On the stellar guest list (with out-of-towners flown to Orange County by gala sponsor American Airlines): Glenn Ford, Ruby Keeler, Dorothy Lamour, Patty Andrews, Janet Leigh, Spanky McFarland, Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Donald O’Connor, Penny Singleton and more.

Smack-dab in the middle: Talk about perfect placement. The just-under-6,000-square-foot house of Debbi and Robert Elliott sits between the homes of billionaire Donald Bren and author Joseph Wambaugh on Linda Isle in Newport Beach. The brand-new, California-Mediterranean style manse will be open for champagne, appetizers and browsing Sunday to an elite new Chapman College support group, Chapman 100. Members will be invited to wander through the posh digs, ogling its wine cellar, lush leather and goatskin accents and its gleaming marble. But not its cracked glass. The super-hot designer look for dining room tables is a pedestal crowned with a cracked-glass top. “But I noticed a crack in it,” said Debbi. “When I told my husband, he said: ‘We bought it that way!’ And I said: ‘No. More cracked!’ So back it goes.” Robert Elliott heads up the Elliott Investment Co. in Newport Beach and serves on the Chapman College board. Debbi Elliott is completing her MBA in psychology at Chapman.