"The New York Academy of Art's annual fundraiser has long understood what so many institutions forget: that the nude is not a novelty, nor a provocation for its own sake, but one of the most intellectually demanding and historically rich forms an artist can take on. To draw or paint the body well requires courage, skill, and intimacy. To collect it requires taste and nerve."
"The evening unfolded inside Phillips on Park Avenue, where artists, collectors, and cultural power players gathered for a night that felt at once celebratory and deeply considered. The 2025 edition carried special weight, honoring Walter Robinsonartist, critic, editor, and beloved connective forcewhose passing earlier this year left an unmistakable absence. The room responded in the only way it knows how: by showing up, generously and in force."
"Cocktails flowed freely, accompanied by real caviar and real champagnethe kind poured without apology and replenished before one could ask. Luxurious, yes, but merely a prelude. Nothing, truly nothing, rivaled the electricity of the auction itself. Eyes lingered. Conversations oscillated between gossip and theory, between memory and speculation. The live and silent auctions played out with a buoyant confidencebidding as flirtation, as sport, as declaration of allegiance to beauty and lineage."
Take Home a Nude 2025 returned on December 15 at Phillips on Park Avenue, bringing together artists, collectors, and cultural figures. The evening honored Walter Robinson, whose passing earlier in the year left an unmistakable absence. Cocktails and caviar set a luxurious tone before the live and silent auctions generated the evening's electricity. Works ranged across charcoal, oil, and experimental depictions of the nude by artists such as Will Cotton, Jane Dickson, Neil Jenney, Jaime Nares, Richard Prince, Walter Robinson, and Kenny Scharf. Bidding combined flirtation, sport, and declarations of allegiance to beauty, lineage, and collecting courage.
Read at www.amny.com
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