What About Bob?

What: At its fall gala, the Dia Art Foundation paid tribute to the painter Robert Ryman, the subject of an upcoming exhibit.

When: Sunday, November 8th

Where: Artbeam in New York

Who: Robert Ryman, Zachary Quinto, Miles McMillan, Francesco Clemente, Brice Marden, Flavin Judd, and Roni Horn.

Why: Bob, Bob, Bob. It was all about Bob, as the artist Robert Ryman is affectionately called by associates and family, at the Dia Art Foundation’s fall gala on Sunday night in New York. Ryman, who will receive his first retrospective in the United States in more than 20 years in December at the museum’s Chelsea outpost, has been a hugely influential figure in the art world since the postwar period for his austere, monochromatic paintings. In introducing him, the artist Roni Horn told a story of the sage advice she received from the master when she was just a young student at Yale University in 1978: “We got to talking, how difficult art is, that it doesn’t come easy. And, I think he did this as a form of comfort, he said, ‘You know, Roni, it’s only going to get worse.” A beat. “Basically, he said, ‘Strap yourself in because if you really want to do this, you gotta get tough.’”