On August 1, the Aspen Art Museum will host its 20th annual ArtCrush, the high-altitude gala where contemporary art and philanthropy align. The invitation-only fundraiser is one of Aspen’s megawatt summer fêtes, with museum patrons and global cognoscenti mingling beside conceptual pieces and trying to outbid one another for a good cause. The gala’s theme: “Celestial Nights,” a.k.a. a sartorialist’s dream dress code.
Its raison d’être is to support the famously free-to-visit museum. Originally founded in 1979, it’s now tucked within a 33,000 square foot structure with a lattice-like exterior designed by Shigeru Ban Architects. The jewel-box, known as AAM has quietly (and not-so-quietly) become one of the most influential contemporary art institutions in the country, if not the globe. This year, Zegna is making its debut as a major sponsor, bringing the quiet power of Italian tailoring to Aspen’s most visible stage. The collaboration suits the brand, whose founder—Ermenegildo Zegna—embraced art from the 1920s, commissioning local artists including Ettore Pistoletto Olivero and Otto Maraini to create pieces for the town of Trivero in the Italian Alps, where Zegna’s woolen mills are located. (Now, the brand’s Milan headquarters and stores around the globe are similarly studded with art, including pieces by Ettore Spaletti and Mimmo Jodice.)
Reggie Burrows Hodges. Courtesy of the artist and Karma.Thanks to co-chairs Sarah Arison, Jen Rubio, and Charlie Pohlad at the helm—and Zegna making its debut as a major sponsor, bringing the quiet power of Italian tailoring to Aspen’s most visible stage—ArtCrush 2025 promises not just elegance at elevation, but a reminder of art’s enduring power.
With Christie’s at the helm of a live auction, ArtCrush will offer a range of museum-quality works donated by top artists and galleries, among them Issy Wood and George Condo. This year’s honoree is the formidable Glenn Ligon, a New York artist whose practice explores American identity, language, and legacy through text-based canvases and conceptual works. While online bidding is open from July 22-August 2, boots on the ground in Aspen for the live auction and gala are worth an altitude adjustment for the cultural fireworks alone, all in support of AAM’s dynamic programming.
The evening’s live auctioneer, Christie’s Global Head of Private Sales Adrien Meyer, has chops; in May, he famously sold Monet’s Peupliers au bord de l’Epte, crépuscule, at a Christie’s auction for $43 million. ArtCrush’s lots may span in value from $3,000 to $400,000, but the tension in the tent will be just as taut.
This year, participating artists are invited to retain a percentage of their work’s sale value, a gesture of respect toward creative labor and the original founders of the Aspen Art Museum (all artists themselves), and one that feels especially poignant in today’s evolving economy, where art enriches the world…far beyond the auction block.