Town & Country November 2023

10 YEARS OF T&C PHILANTHROPY The current incarnation of Town & Country’s annual philanthropy issue was born in 2013, when we photographed diver/environmentalists Céline and Fabien Cousteau, the grandchildren of legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, for our December cover and debuted our first list of the world’s top 50 philanthropists. The act (and art) of giving back, though, has been a pillar of American society since the nation’s founding and a focus of this magazine for more than a century. Our cover star in April 1907? Andrew Carnegie, steel magnate and philanthropic titan who eventually gave away 90 percent of his colossal fortune (in today’s currency that would be nearly $10 billion). In the 21st century, philanthropy takes many forms; this catalog, a decade’s worth of T&C coverage of the…

We had been celebrating the tradition of giving back for more than 100 years before we decided to make it official. (See our April 1907 cover honoring the legacy of Andrew Carnegie.) A decade ago T&C launched an annual Philanthropy issue and summit, both to showcase astounding acts of generosity and service and also to investigate philanthropy’s impact and its future. We began gathering great minds and greater hearts in the theater of the Hearst Tower to share successes and confront challenges and, most important, to ask the question that is at the root of all philanthropy: What can we do? Many renowned thought leaders have gathered to offer answers, and we are grateful to them all. This year we will come together once again and hear from our cover…

WHERE ARE WE GOING? Jackie. Marilyn. Mao. The Campbell’s soup can. They’re legends of the modern art canon, but there was more to Andy Warhol’s oeuvre than his saturated silkscreens and irreverent critiques of consumerism. This month his eponymous museum in Pittsburgh will show 60 works that have never been exhibited since they entered the institution’s troves. Expect a few surprises. THROUGH MARCH 4, WARHOL.ORG WHAT ARE WE WEARING? Warhol had a voracious appetite for watches. When he died, 313 were found in his home. Still, he had his favorites, like his 1970s Piagets (Yves Piaget was a good friend). Over the years the maison has paid tribute to its loyal client with reissues of the Black Tie, which Warhol owned in black and gold. It now comes in made-to-order…

There was a time when interesting people routinely left their curious, captivating dwellings to the public for the benefit of future generations. That was the idea when Victor D’Amico, the founding director of the Museum of Modern Art’s education program, and his wife Mabel, an artist, set up their house museum in Amagansett. Built in the early 1940s by the couple themselves, its windows show off Mabel’s colored glass constructions and the view of Gardiner’s Bay. The airy interior holds fascinating artifacts associated with MoMA, like the museum’s first boardroom tables (now for dining), scores of artworks, design experiments, and Mabel’s handmade jewelry. There’s even a second house museum on the property, a repurposed fishing shack where the Jazz Age portraitist Alexander Brook once entertained his theater friends from New…

As you’re reading this, someone is probably asking MacKenzie Scott for money. Ever since she divorced Jeff Bezos, winning $38.3 billion in the settlement, Scott has given away $14 billion to some 1,600 nonprofits, selecting each one herself with input from advisors. But for her latest round of monster-size charitable giving, she announced an open call for applications to receive $1 million in unrestricted operating gifts from her personal foundation, Yield Giving. Think of it as America’s Next Top Do-Gooder. Of the 6,353 entries received for the peer review process, 250 will be selected early next year. “Peer review is the most legit process, but now everyone is reading everyone else’s application, and it’s kind of like Squid Game,” says a grant writer for an arts nonprofit. In other words,…

DON’T send a mass solicitation email. It makes a recipient feel like “a target on a list,” in the words of one donor. Think about it. When was the last time you responded to your pals at MoveOn? Follow up by phone or with a handwritten note. DO mute the alarmists, the ones clogging feeds with regrams that don’t amount to much more than virtue signaling. When disaster strikes, do your homework on the best way to help, and share your research with like-minded friends. DON’T have a hot mic. At some point in every gala, a drunk guest gets onstage or starts to prattle on during the audience participation bits. Danger! Front-load all fundraising, then party with no mics except Mary J. Blige’s. DO consider swag bag alternatives. “It’s…