Some of NYC’s most notable museums have set up shop inside the Breuer Building. The Whitney occupied the Madison Avenue outpost in 1966, and extensions of The Met and The Frick Collection followed years later. Now, Sotheby’s has officially taken over.
After a two-year construction project and a $100 million undertaking, the auction house is embarking on a new chapter in one of the most iconic buildings in all of NYC.
“It’s a homecoming of sorts,’ Charles Steward, Sotheby’s CEO, said in a statement. “It’s nostalgic. You can talk about the Breuer as an architectural landmark. You also can talk about it in terms of art history: all of the exhibitions, artists and collectors that have been affiliated with this space over the last six decades.”
Inside the Breuer Building’s new chapter
Herzog & de Meuron (H&dM) worked diligently to preserve the building’s modern aesthetic, including its bluestone floors, coffered concrete ceilings, sculptural staircase, and bespoke lobby finishings, according to a press release.
However, H&dM also had to prepare for what’s ahead for Sotheby’s global headquarters. A few changes include: an open plan area with demountable walls, a new freight elevator to accommodate the works entering and leaving the building, and the reconstruction of walls in order to let the building’s windows act a focal point. That’s just to name a few adjustments.
Additionally, a new restaurant from Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch is on the horizon, according to Vanity Fair.
Ahead of the New York auctions this November — which spotlights Leonard A. Lauder and Jay and Cindy Pritzker’s collections of modernist and impressionist pieces from the 18th to the 21st — there will be free public exhibitions. Visitors are also able to catch a glimpse of a few notable works, including Maurizio Cattelan’s gold toilet and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Crowns (Peso Neto).”
Learn more about what’s ahead for the space on the Sotheby’s website.
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