No week has been more testament to Victoria Beckham’s versatility as a fashion designer and businesswoman than her last in New York. Just days after launching her street and performance wear collection with Reebok, the British star came to Sotheby’s on 24 January to celebrate her second collaboration with the Old Masters department. Having first worked together this summer, Sotheby’s and Beckham partnered again to champion women artists from the 16th through 19th centuries with The Female Triumphant. Also helping Beckham ring in the evening was the Frick, Sotheby’s neighboring art institution, which Beckham shared first ignited her love of Old Masters. At the reception, presented by Sotheby’s International Realty, Calvine Harvey, Sotheby’s Vice President, Old Master Paintings, Aimee Ng, Frick Associate Curator, and Beckham spoke to Frick Young Fellows and more about the exciting and rewarding challenge of educating people on not only Old Masters, but in particular, female ones.
In addition to discussing the surprising experience of having Sotheby’s Old Masters installed in her Dover Street boutique, both this July and December, Beckham explained how her budding interest in this category is becoming a family passion. “My husband and I have been interested in Contemporary art for quite some time…Thank you to the teams at Sotheby’s and the Frick for having the patience to teach me about Old Masters. I take this home, and I try to teach David everything that I have learned.” After the reception, an intimate group joined Beckham at the Frick for a dinner hosted by Xavier Salomon, the museum’s Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, which proved to be a full-circle ending to Beckham’s artful collaboration. Ahead, view images from the evening. –Stephanie Sporn
