At the Gagosian Gallery, a pre-Oscar opening

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Can there be any more festive time for a get-together than the days leading up to the Academy Awards, when the mood is celebratory and Los Angeles is packed with party people?

Candy Coleman, a director of the Gagosian Gallery, said opening a major show the Thursday before the Oscars has been a long-standing tradition for the Beverly Hills space. So this year “Psycho Spaghetti Westerns,” with 10 new paintings by Ed Ruscha, premiered on Feb. 24.

As for the show’s title, Ruscha said, “The name came out of the air -- out of the blue sky. The words just fit.”

Stopping by were artists, actors, collectors and others -- an estimated 500 in total, among them Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, Doug Aitken, John Baldessari, Shepard Fairey, Rosson Crow, Grazka Taylor, John Waters, Adrien Brody, Anthony Kiedis, Cheech Marin, Ed Begley Jr., Irving Blum, Maria and Bill Bell, Colleen Bell with Brad McCallum, Linda and Jerry Janger, Barbara Davis and Brandon Davis.

-- Ellen Olivier