RSVP : Viewing Art in a Whole New Light

An L.A. art crowd partied at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Wednesday night at an opening reception for “Cy Twombly: A Retrospective.” The comprehensive survey of the works of the American abstract painter--most recognizable for his gray and white “blackboard” paintings--runs through June 25.

On hand were the lanky Twombly (hard to ignore in white trousers, suspenders and a navy blazer) with his dealer, Doris Ammann, plus hordes of art-world notables, including Count Giuseppe and Rosa Panza (donors of much of MOCA’s permanent collection); MOCA trustees Betye Burton, Richard Brawerman with his wife, Geri, Aviva Covitz with husband Carl, Doug Cramer and Bea Gersh with husband Phil; artists David Hockney, Joe Goode and Ed Moses; dealers Jackie and Manny Silverman, Rosamund Felsen, Peter Goulds, Stuart Regen and Larry Gagosian; plus architect Richard Meier, and Eli and Edythe Broad, who underwrote the show with the Boston Company, Dallas and David Price, and Hockney.

This was a group in which many had already seen the show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City where it originated. (Overheard: “Did you see it in New York? God, who didn’t see it in New York?”)

The evening’s buzz was about how much better the show looked in Los Angeles, even though it was the exact same show.

Because the paintings were grouped somewhat differently, some people found it more “cohesive.” And the greatest improvement, everyone agreed, was the gallery design that allowed for copious L.A. light.

Even Kirk Varnedoe, chief curator of painting and sculpture at MOMA and original organizer of the show, admitted, “I’m jealous of the amount of space and daylight you have.”

“Come back in the daylight and the work is rapturous with its pink flesh tones and sexuality,” boasted MOCA chief curator Paul Schimmel.

Not all were rapturous. “I don’t get it. I get most art. I really get most art. But this connects at such a primal level, I don’t get it,” Wes Hampton, who owns an insurance agency, said of the show.

Hockney said he would prefer to “get” art sitting down. “I think you need comfortable seats in there,” he said. “Old museums like the National Gallery in London have ottomans so you can sit down and take the pictures in. If I was the artist, I’d bring the chairs in myself.”