The warm relationships that the Whitney Museum of American Art is known for engineering were on display Monday at its annual gala, as artists, dealers, collectors, and curators mixed and mingled.

“I have quite a feeling for the Whitney,” the event’s honoree, Emily Fisher Landau, said. “I’ve resigned from every other board that I’m on.”

Her Whitney cohorts have quite a feeling for her. “She is a remarkable woman, one of the great art patrons of New York, the nation, and indeed the world,” the chairman of the museum, Leonard Lauder, said.

Ms. Landau, 86, has served as chairman of the painting and sculpture committee and was one of the founders of the print committee. She also established the Fisher Landau Center for Art in Long Island City.

“Her talent is her eye, her incredible ability to see things clearly and say what she thinks in a few words,” Mr. Lauder said.

He told the story of going with Ms. Landau to see a Cy Twombly painting the museum was considering for purchase. “She took one look and said, ‘Mine is better,'” Mr. Lauder said.

Ms. Landau recently wrote a memoir to ensure that her family story would be passed on to future generations. It includes stories of meeting Rothko, Warhol, and Jasper Johns.

The legacy of her passion for art is all over the Whitney, including on the fourth floor where the exhibit, “Picasso and American Art,” is currently hanging. Her name is above the elevator, and one of her favorite Picassos is in the show.

The director of the Whitney, Adam Weinberg, noted another contribution — her endowment to the biennial. “Many people love to hate it,” Mr. Weinberg said. “Not many people love to pay for it.”

The event was a labor of love for chairwomen Susan Hess, Stacey Mindich, and Veronique Pittman, who brought fun to the party by setting up a Whitney photo booth, where guests took racy and goofy pictures that were projected on the walls during the event. The event drew 400 guests and raised $2.4 million.