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, 2010Sothebys Magazine: "Spontaneous Collector" 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 Jewish family which controls a $5.1 billion real estate empire. She is the daughter of Gladyce (née Largever)New York Times: "Gladyce Largever Begelman, Author and Party Consultant" June 30, 1986New York Times: "Paid Notice: Deaths LARGEVER, IDA (HAIMOWITZ)" August 8, 1997 and Lewis Rudin. She has one brother, William Rudin.Los Angeles Times: "Wife of David Begelman Dies of Leukemia" June 28, 1986 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.Los Angeles Times: "Wife Of Film Exec Begelman" June 29, 1986
DeWoody's interest in art started as child where she attended the Rudolf Steiner School after which she went on to earn a B.A. in anthropology and cinema studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She then worked as a production assistant on such movies as Hair (film) and Annie Hall. After marrying artist James DeWoody, she began to get deeply involved in the SoHo art scene where she began to nurture young contemporary artists such as E.V. Day and Tom Sachs. In 1982, she went to work for Rudin Management Company, owned by her father, where she rose to the rank of vice president.New York Times: "In Real Estate, New Faces, Old Names" By David W. Dunlap March 20, 1994 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.The New York Observer: "Collector Turned Curator: Beth Rudin DeWoody Puts on a Show" by Paul Laster July 28, 2010
In 2001 comedian Ruby Wax portrayed a satirical menopausal maniac based on DeWoody in the BBC television comedy Absolutely Fabulous, season 4, episode 6.
Philanthropy DeWoody serves as President of the Rudin Family Foundation. She has sat on the boards of the Whitney Museum of American Art since the mid-1980s, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Creative Time, The New School University, Design Museum Holon in Israel, New Yorkers for Children, New York City Police Foundation, the Photography Steering Committee at the Norton Museum of Art located in West Palm Beach, Florida and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.
In 1990, DeWoody organized the "A Bid of Love" benefit auction at Sotheby's with ballet dancers Heather Watts, Jock Soto, and interior designer Jed Johnson.
Personal life DeWoody has been married twice. Her first husband was artist James DeWoodyWall Street Journal: "A Three-House Art Showcase - Works from Warhol to Waters abound at a patron's estate" By Nancy Keates January 8, 2010 with whom she had two children: Kyle DeWoody (cofounder of Grey Area which markets artist-made wares)W Magazine: "Kyle DeWoody: It Trend, It Girl - An art world progeny turns e-tail entrepreneur" by Vanessa Lawrence July 15, 2013 and artist and designer, Carlton. She was engaged to world renowned oculoplastic surgeon Stephen Bosniak, who died suddenly in 2007 of a leukemic crisis. In 2012, she married photographer Firooz Zahedi.New York Times: "Beth DeWoody and Firooz Zahedi" December 30, 2012 She has homes in West Palm Beach, Manhattan,New York Magazine: "House Tour 2003 - Eight prominent New Yorkers walk us through their homes, from a radically renovated brownstone to an art-filled aerie" By Wendy Goodman Los Angeles and Montecito, California.
The Bunker Artspace The Bunker Artspace, located in West Palm Beach, Florida, showcases contemporary art from the 10,000 pieces in the collection. Tom Sachs, Kehinde Wiley, Phillip Estland, John Waters, and Maynard Monrow are a few artists whose works DeWoody collects and displays at the Bunker.
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