#FreeTheNude

On Wednesday night, Sotheby’s held the annual Take Home a Nude silent auction and party, benefitting the New York Academy of Art and honoring critic Jerry Saltz and author Tom Wolfe. The theme, “celebrating Instagram,” drew a host of socially savvy style stars such as Leandra Medine, Pari Ehsan, Chelsea Leyland, and newly engaged Hannah Bronfman, who was dressed in a white Hugo Boss frock and had just come from deejaying a Boss event. The main attraction of the night was the unveiling of the artist Ryan McGinness’s, InstagrAM, “I posted a different black and white graphic on my Instagram account every single day for three years, put the images together, and created a self-portrait,” McGinness explained of the piece.

Also up for grabs were works by Eric Fischl, Kiki Smith, Yoko Ono, Will Cotton, Enoc Perez, as well as by NYAA students. NYAA President David Kratz caught up with Dustin Yellin, while Naomi Watts surveyed the show with Wolfe, who has been on the Academy’s board since its inception. “This is a pretty radical exhibition,” said Wolfe. “We are seeing the product of this art movement, what I like to call the ‘no-hands’ movement, now more than ever and I’m fascinated by it. From Richard Serra, to Jeff Koons, artists aren’t touching their work anymore. I still find it radical, and you can see it in the students work tonight.”

Despite the vast array of contemporary works on offer, Will Cotton, a self-proclaimed regular at NYAA events, had his eye on modern illustrations and old masters. “I have a bid on a great black and white sketch of a hand right now from the 1700s and a Jean Philippe Delhomme—he’s my favorite artist as of late.

As cocktails finished, Dan Colen, Brooke Shields, Padma Lakshmi, and Eileen Guggenheim made their way into the main dining room for dinner, where Olivier Sarkozy and Mary-Kate Olsen caught up with Saltz and shared a laugh with tablemate Bob Colacello.

“If there’s one thing to learn from Jerry Saltz it’s fearlessness,” declared Kratz. “And that’s what makes him an incredible critic. He shows us we cannot make art with fear.” A lesson well learned.