The annual Tibet House US auction was held on Wednesday, November 18, 2009. It hosted 450 generous souls and successfully raised more than 300 thousand dollars. These will go to benefit ongoing programs at the House as well as educational efforts to preserve the Tibetan language and the cultural heritage of song, dance, painting and Buddhist philosophy, both in the Dharamsala exile and also in the local New York - New Jersey Tibetan community.

The event has been a cherished spot on my social calendar for many years, and not just for its intrinsic glamour (where Uma Thurman and Donna Karan go, so shall I wish to go), nor for the gathering of so much wonderful art and fashion under one roof, so many goods and services donated to a most worthy cause. Not just for the opportunity to sample the rarefied air of Christie's Rockefeller Plaza once again. Not even for the many friends and acquaintances I invariably meet, which lends the event a homecoming feeling for the intersecting worlds of music and art and fashion that comprise the downtown demimonde.

James Kalm endures sweltering heat and summer ennui to bike to the center of Chelsea for this blockbuster show. The inequality of female representation within museum collections is an almost endemic refrain. While not reconciling this state of affairs, “The Female Gaze” does provide examples of some of today’s most influential and accomplished artists’ work. From stalwarts of Post-War American art like Louise Bourgeois and Joan Mitchell, to the essential Feminist works of Lynda Benglis, to the Post-Modern Conceptual works of Cindy Sherman, Jenny Holzer and Deborah Kass, this exhibition displays prime examples of reflective works inspired by images of women.