The Corcoran Gallery of Art Throws A 55th Ball!

Be sure to checkout all of our photographs from this event here and tell us what you were wearing that night!

Move over 1869 Society members, it's the adults' turn to party now... And with peach-flavored cocktails gushing from an array of open bars, party they did this weekend at the 55th Annual Corcoran Ball.

While the capital's "young professionals" had their chance to experience an avant-gardely decorated Corcoran during the sold-out Artini event on March 27th, Friday's affair was decidedly more elegant with black ties and ball gowns competing with the priceless works of art on the wall for attention.

Bowtie-clad valets helped usher guests from their cars into a packed gallery for a 7pm pre-dinner reception. With the ball's placesettings spanning throughout most of the gallery, visitors were free to wander the beautiful, individually decorated rooms as they mingled and located their tables.

Our favorite rooms of the evening were the art deco-esque rotunda at the entrance to the William A. Clark Collection (inspired by the works of Eadweard Muybridge) and the yellow and purple rooms just off of the main hall. The quiet simplicity of the portraiture in the former (e.g., Gilbert Stuart's George Washington and Joshua Johnson's Grace Allison McCurdy) as well as the grandness of the latter (e.g., Albert Bierstadt's The Last of the Buffalo) made for magnificent table backdrops.

After real-life trumpeters announced the start of dinner, guests feasted on a menu of Maryland Crab Gratin en Croute, Filet of Beef w/ Trumpet Mushrooms & Madeira Sauce, Fondant Potatoes, Spring Garden Vegetables, and Chocolate Orange Parfaits.

Indeed, we found it a bit surreal to watch as hundreds of people dined just a few short feet from the works of Monet, Renoir, Bierstadt, etc. This must be what it feels like to eat at Steve Wynn's house!

Dinner soon gave way to dancing, however, as energized couples took to the dance floor of the gallery's main hallway and twirled and swayed to the music of The Bob Hardwick Sound (as well as the occasional ABBA cover) to well past midnight.

Congratulations to the Corcoran on another magical evening! #56 is less than a year away...