Worldwide public sale home Sotheby’s has introduced its acquisition of the Whitney Museum of American Artwork’s   Marcel Breuer-designed constructing on Madison Avenue in Manhattan.

Sotheby’s has introduced its purchase the constructing and switch it right into a flagship gallery for the model in an effort to show collections of artwork and luxurious items to the general public.

The corporate mentioned that it will make use of an architect to “evaluation and preserve” the construction after it takes possession in September 2024.

Broadly jnown because the Breuer Constructing, 945 Madison Avenue was accomplished in 1966 as a further location for New York’s Whitney Museum of American Artwork. At the moment, it’s getting used as a brief dwelling for artwork gallery The Frick Assortment

“This can be a really distinctive alternative to reimagine an iconic and globally renown architectural landmark within the splendid location, which can additional distinguish us as we proceed to remodel and innovate for our purchasers,” mentioned Sotheby’s CEO Charles F Stewart.

The brutalist constructing contains a facade of concrete panels facade that steps again from the road making a sequence of cantilevers. Just a few home windows dot the aspect, extruding at angles from the concrete.

At one finish, a big vertical wall shields the constructing from the adjoining buildings.

In its plans for sustaining the construction, Sotheby’s talked about the “placing foyer”, an area with stone flooring and ceiling fully lined with an array of gridded lighting fixtures.

Sotheby’s mentioned that after it completes its transfer, the construction will stay open to the general public, who can view the public sale home’s collections earlier than gadgets are offered to non-public house owners.

Some have lamented the change from museum to public sale home. Writing in Curbed, artwork critic Jerry Saltz mentioned that “public sale homes are the place artwork loses its id and its dignity”.

Saltz famous that the constructing itself with its restricted home windows and austere inside felt like a “temple” the place artwork is supposed to be considered.

Marcel Breuer was born in Hungary in 1902 and moved to the US in 1937. He constructed numerous buildings in his adopted nation, a few of which have seen adjustments in objective over time, together with a brutalist workplace constructing in Connecticut that lately reopened as a lodge.

The pictures is by Max Touhey.