Beth Rudin DeWoody (born 1952) is an American art patron, collector, curator, and philanthropist.Wall Street Journal: "A Three-House Art Showcase - Works from Warhol to Waters abound at a patron's estate" By Nancy Keates
January 8, 2010
BY James Reginato] 12 January 2015Gotham Magazine: "Beth Rudin DeWoody's Displays of Affection" By Stacey Goergen
November 1, 2010

Biography

DeWoody was born to a American Jews, Jewish family which controls a $5.1 billion real estate empire. She is the daughter of Gladyce (née Largever) and Lewis Rudin. She has one brother, William Rudin. Her parents later divorced and remarried: her father to Wilhelmina model Basha Szymanska, and then Rachel (Weingarten) Rudin; and her mother to film executive

David Begelman David Begelman (August 26, 1921 – August 7, 1995) was an American film producer, film executive and talent agent who was involved in a studio embezzlement scandal in the 1970s. Life and career Begelman was born to a Jewish family in New Yor ...

. DeWoody's interest in art started as child where she attended the

Rudolf Steiner School Waldorf education, also known as Steiner education, is based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Its educational style is holistic, intended to develop pupils' intellectual, artistic, and practical skil ...

after which she went on to earn a B.A. in anthropology and cinema studies from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

. She then worked as a production assistant on such movies as

Hair (film) ''Hair'' is a 1979 American musical anti-war comedy-drama film based on the 1968 Broadway musical '' Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical''. Set against the backdrop of the hippie counterculture of the Vietnam era, the film focuses on ...

and

Annie Hall ''Annie Hall'' is a 1977 American satirical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay written by him and Marshall Brickman, and produced by Allen's manager, Charles H. Joffe. The film stars Allen as Alvy Singer, w ...

. After marrying artist James DeWoody, she began to get deeply involved in the

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

art scene where she began to nurture young contemporary artists such as E.V. Day and

Tom Sachs Tom Sachs (born July 26, 1966) is an American contemporary artist who lives and works in New York City. Life and early career Sachs was born in New York City on July 26, 1966. He grew up in Westport, Connecticut, attending high school at Green ...

. In 1982, she went to work for Rudin Management Company, owned by her father, where she rose to the rank of vice president. At the same time, she grew her art collection and sponsored new artistsPalm Beach Post: "At home with the art collector" by Scott Eyman
January 11, 2013 and served as a curator of exhibitions. In 2001 comedian Ruby Wax portrayed a satirical menopausal maniac based on DeWoody in the BBC television comedy

Absolutely Fabulous ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (also known as ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom based on the ''French and Saunders'' sketch, "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. The show was created and written by Saund ...

, season 4, episode 6.

Philanthropy

DeWoody serves as President of the Rudin Family Foundation, and sits on the boards of the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

since the mid-1980s,

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

Creative Time Creative Time is a New York-based nonprofit arts organization. It was founded in 1974 to support the creation of innovative, site-specific, socially engaged artworks in the public realm, particularly in vacant spaces of historical and architectura ...

, The New School University, Design Museum Holon in Israel,

New Yorkers for Children New Yorkers For Children (NYFC) is a not-for-profit organization which helps people who have aged out of the foster care system. Founded in 1996 by Nicholas Scoppetta in Manhattan, New York, the organization focuses on the academic success of fo ...

New York City Police Foundation The New York City Police Foundation was established in 1971 by business and civic leaders as a nonprofit tax-exempt charity that could raise money to spend on projects supporting NYPD reform and modernization efforts as well as helping improve its ...

, the Photography Steering Committee at the

Norton Museum of Art The Norton Museum of Art is an art museum located in West Palm Beach, Florida. Its collection includes over 8,200 works, with a concentration in European, American, and Chinese art as well as in contemporary art and photography. In 2003, it overt ...

located in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

and the

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

in Los Angeles.

Personal life

DeWoody has been married twice. Her first husband was artist James DeWoody with whom she had two children: Kyle DeWoody (cofounder of Grey Area which markets artist-made wares) and artist and designer, Carlton. She was the fiancée to world renowned oculoplastic surgeon Stephen Bosniak, who died suddenly in 2007 of a leukemic crisis. In 2012, she remarried to photographer

Firooz Zahedi Firooz Zahedi (born 1949) is an American photographer of Iranian descent. Early life Firooz Zahedi was born in Tehran, Iran in 1949. His family moved to England where he received his secondary education. In 1969 he came to the US to attend Geor ...

. She has homes in

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

the Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one of ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

Montecito, California Montecito (Spanish for "Little mountain") is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California.McCormack, Don (1999). ''McCormack's Guides Santa Barbara and Ventura 2000''. Mccormacks Guides. p. 58. . Located ...

The Bunker Artspace

The Bunker Artspace, located in West Palm Beach, Florida, showcases

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

created by well-known and emerging artists currently in the DeWoody collection. Over 10,000 pieces are currently in the collection.

Kehinde Wiley Kehinde Wiley (born February 28, 1977)"Kehinde Wiley"
''Artnet''. Retrieved October 13, 2010. i ...

, Phillip Estland, Laura Dvorkin, John Waters, and Maynard Monrow are a few artists whose works DeWoody collects and displays at the Bunker. Kehinde Wiley (2015) (cropped)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeWoody, Beth Rudin 1952 births Businesspeople from New York City Jewish American philanthropists American real estate businesspeople Rudin family American art curators American art collectors Women art collectors Living people Philanthropists from New York (state) American women curators