Sean Parker and Alexandra Parker
Photo by: Drew Altizer Photography

Christina Zeller and Charly Herscovici
Photo by: Drew Altizer Photography

Rebecca Rabinow
Photo by: Drew Altizer Photography

Joni Binder and Maia Schwartz
Photo by: Drew Altizer Photography

Catherine Kwong and Chloe Warner
Photo by: Drew Altizer Photography

Neal Benezra and Charly Herscovici
Photo by: Drew Altizer Photography

Pamela Kaplan
Photo by: Drew Altizer Photography

Nathalie Delrue-McGuire
Photo by: Drew Altizer Photography

Yves Béhar
Photo by: Drew Altizer Photography

Maryam Muduroglu and Sheila Nahi
Photo by: Drew Altizer Photography

The entrance to 'René Magritte The Fifth Season'
Photo by: Drew Altizer Photography

The atmosphere at the SFMOMA for the opening of 'René Magritte The Fifth Season'
Photo by: Drew Altizer Photography

While “René Magritte The Fifth Season” officially debuted at SFMOMA in San Francisco on May 19, a private preview was held on Wednesday, May 16, for an international coterie of patrons, curators, donors and benefactors of the exhibit.

“We are happy to present this iconic surrealist painter, and very grateful to everyone who believed in our concept, and to the museums that loaned paintings that never leave their walls,” said Neal Benezra, director of SFMOMA.

The exhibit is the first to examine the artist’s late career exclusively and is the result of five years’ of planning. Organized by SFMOMA curator Caitlin Haskell, it also boasts more than twenty of Magritte’s iconic surrealist paintings that have never been seen in the U.S. Galleries that contributed to the show include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, LACMA, MOMA, The Menil Collection in Houston, and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels, along with Jeff Koons, a Magritte fan.

Guests took time out the cocktail hour and dinner to study the Magritte collection. Those seen enjoying the 70 works were Charly Herscovici, Rebecca Rabinow, Sean and Alexandra Parker, Catherine Kwong, Chloe Warner, Christina Zeller, Natacha Polaert and Yves Béhar. Before the night was over, partygoers discovered an artful surprise in their goody bags: a black handbag by Belgian leather goods house Delvaux. Superbly crafted and detailed, it was embossed with a spin on the title of Magritte’s famous painting of a pipe. “Ceci n’est pas un Delvaux” proclaimed the miniature bag. Surreal, indeed.

Written by by Diane Dorrans Saeks