parrish art museum

RSVIP: Parrish Museum Honors Beth DeWoody, a Latter Day "Peggy Guggenheim"

Unlike the legendary art patroness Peggy Guggenheim, Manhattan real estate family scion, Beth Rudin DeWoody may not have rebuilt a palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice, where lions once roamed, and Jackson Pollock didn't urinate in her fireplace, but DeWoody has packed three sizable domiciles from Southamton, New York to West Palm Beach, Florida and likely a great deal of storage with the quirky highlights of contemporary art.

On July 10, DeWoody and the world famous painter Ross Bleckner were honored at the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, New York, during the annual Parrish Midsummer fete.

"She's so open-minded," said Carlton DeWoody, Beth's son, like his father, Beth's first husband Jim DeWoody, a gifted artist. "That had a big impact on me growing up."

At the entrance to DeWoody's Southampton cottage, a key site in the original Southampton Art Colony, hangs a deer trophy head in an S&M-style leather hood that zips up the side. Lift a small magnifying glass on a book, as Luxist did on a previous visit, and a tiny man magically appears as a holograph, projected in 3-D.

"Beth is my partner in crime," offered designer Richard Mishaan with gusto, "my personal Auntie Mame. She has educated me, guided me into buying some of the best pieces I have, like a Peter Dayton surfboard last week."

"She's the Peggy Guggenheim of our time," pronounced Debbie Bancroft, chair of the tony Southampton society benefit, sporting a dress made with python skins for Calypso. "Everyone loves Beth and Ross . . . and there is nothing like having beloved honorees."

"She is the most welcoming person, with the most eclectic taste in friends, art, and furniture," added artful party photographer Patrick McMullan.

Tags: hamptons, olivia chantecaille, parrish art museum, peggy guggenheim, ross bleckner, rsvip, southampton, stuart weitzman