Anne Hathaway Makes a Surprise Splash in Dallas: $1 Million Night Draws More than Art Stars

Call it a star-studded game of telephone: Midway through the cocktail hour during last weekend’s Art Ball at the Dallas Museum of Art, one question spread like wildfire: “Is that Anne Hathaway?”

Rumor turned out to be fact. Indeed, the Academy Award-winning actress was in attendance — on the arm of husband Adam Shulman, a jewelry designer whose line, James Banks Design, has been a staple at Forty Five Ten for years. She was mingling with Lael and Peter Brodsky (Peter is Shulman’s cousin), Forty Five Ten president and co-founder Brian Bolke, and Becca Cason Thrash, in town from Houston.

No doubt, Hathaway’s presence made the decidedly more intimate Art Ball feel like an even hotter ticket than it has been in years past. A coveted seat appeared reserved for the city’s most generous philanthropists and major movers and shakers, the likes of Jessica and Dirk Nowitzki, Moll and Charlie Anderson, and Nancy Rogers.

A smaller, smarter Art Ball was intentional, thanks to the skilled fundraising abilities of chairman Ann Hobson and her husband Lee Hobson. Expectations were high — this was the first Art Ball attended by Dr. Agustín Arteaga since he assumed the DMA’s directorship earlier this year — and Ann delivered in spades, raising more than $1 million for the DMA in a single night.

When the dinner tent opened, Ann’s stamp was apparent. (She is famous for her impeccable taste.) “Have you ever been to her house?” we overheard one guest say. “Because this is basically it.” We take no contest with the observation. Todd Fiscus masterfully interpreted Ann’s style, decorating the dinner tent in a way that resembled a larger version of the Hobsons’ living room.

Hobson hospitality proved the ultimate key to the evening’s success. As part of the live auction, curated by Grange Hall’s Rajan Patel and Cabana’s Merry Vose, the Hobsons put a vacation at their country estate in France on the auction block. Christie’s president of the Americas and auctioneer Brook Hazelton sold it twice.

There could not be a more fitting exclamation point on a live auction that raised $460,000 — the largest grossing live auction in Art Ball history.