“People in Aspen tend to look up [at the mountains and the sky],” Aspen Art Museum director Heidi Zuckerman said a few days before the museum’s yearly ArtCrush gala and fundraising auction on 4 August. Since 2005, the world’s top collectors have attended the event, and this year’s celebration was particularly skyward gazing: guests were treated to a balloon-ride-over-France theme, complete with Dom Pérignon, accordion players and strawberry crêpes. Sotheby’s Oliver Barker led a live auction, where almost every piece, including works by Ed Ruscha, Chris Ofili and this year’s Aspen Award for Art honoree Lawrence Weiner, ignited bidding wars. Click ahead to view the finest moments from the evening, which raised $2.8 million for the museum.