By Nicholas M.Dawes

“With freedom, flowers, books and the moon, who could not be perfectly happy?” Oscar Wilde

All of Wilde’s happiness ingredients were on show at Jefferson Library on Sunday night, though the moon spent much of the evening in hiding. The West Village landmark, built as a courthouse in the mid-1870’s, celebrated fifty years as a New York branch as an enthusiastic crowd, sprinkled with celebrities and Village luminaries, carefully avoided spilling expensive wine on the newly arranged rows of books in what must be America’s most spectacular public library.

Perhaps the most ornate historic library in the U.S. The newly renovated structure played host to a Blooms And Books fund-raiser. A special evening supporting the continued protection and preservation of the iconic Jefferson Market Garden and Jefferson Market Library.

One highlight of the evening was a young man standing discreetly in a corner completing a superb small oil of the library, started earlier in the day en plein air in the garden. Eric Leichtung is a Junior Scholarship member of Salmagundi, the historic artist club founded in 1871 and housed at 47 Fifth Avenue, one block east of the library. “When American Art took a left turn in the Village in the late 1940’s, following Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, Salmagundi kept going straight”…according to Nick Dawes, Salmagundi Chairman who attended the event, adding “ Eric brought the club’s brand of superb representational art into the library, where it seemed right at home”. The painting was raffled with great success with all proceeds going to the library as the evening drew to a close.

Salmagundi is open to the public seven days a week and offer hundreds of programs annually, most free to attend.

Details at www.salmagundi.org

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