Tuesday, July 1st Saw the Art World’s Most Prestigious Party, the Serpentine Summer Party, Take Place by the Serpentine Galleries Amid the Oxygenated Greenery of Hyde Park, ”The Lungs of London" The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Garden, Hyde Park. Comprising the original Serpentine Gallery, and the new Serpentine Sackler Gallery designed by Zaha Hadid architects which opened in September 2013, they are linked by the bridge over Serpentine Lake from which the galleries get their names, they are among London’s best loved art venues. Up to 1.2 million visitors annually enjoy the parallel exhibitions at both galleries which comprise prestigious collections of modern and contemporary art, along with their impressive Exhibition, Architecture, Design, Education and Public Programmes. The Serpentine Summer Party is an annual fund-raiser for the galleries, helping to further their educational remit. It extends on the wide and strong support and patronage enjoyed by the galleries and has long held the reputation of being a sumptuous and glamorous evening, on a par with Ascot, Wimbledon and the Chelsea Flower Show as one of the quintessential outdoor events during London’s summer months. Co-hosts for this year’s party were of a particularly high-powered variety: joining Gallery Director Julia Peyton-Jones and Co-Director Hans Ulrich Obrist, Chairman and former Mayor of New York Michael R Bloomberg, Chairman and CEO of luxury brand Kering Francois-Henri Pinault, and international hotelier Andre Balazs. Among those attending were the Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Tracey Emin, Bradley Cooper, Keira Knightly and her husband James Righton, Dasha Zhukova, Ben Goldsmith, Pharrell Williams, who performed a live music set, and gallery patrons and trustees including executive Hollywood film producer Rebecca Wang and international architect Zaha Hadid. Rebecca Wang is a dedicated supporter of all art forms. In addition to her roles as patron to the Tate Modern, National Gallery, and Serpentine, she is a member of both the Academy Circle for BAFTA (the British Academy of Film and Television Awards) and also Director of the Circle at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Zaha Hadid is a globally renowned architect who created the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics. She has also been one of the previously chosen architects for the Serpentine Pavilion and has recently become the first woman to win the Design Museum’s Design of the Year award for the Heyder Aliyev culture centre in Baku. Rebecca Wang, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Bradley Cooper and Keira Knightley Attend the Serpentine Summer Party