By: Ilana Siyance

On Monday, Sotheby’s Auction House announced that the modernist Breuer building will be renovated to serve as their new global headquarters. As reported by the NY Times, the auction house has closed on the building at 945 Madison Avenue, purchasing it from the Whitney Museum. Pritzker-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron have been tapped for the renovations. The renovations are slated to be completed by Fall 2025, and it will then serve as the Sotheby’s sales room, and also include exhibition and dining spaces.

The brutalist Madison Ave building, located in the Upper East Side, was opened in 1966, built to house the Whitney Museum of American Art. After the Whitney Museum moved to the Meatpacking District in 2015, the building was utilized as a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Most recently, from 2021 to March 2024, the building served as the temporary quarters for the Frick Collection, while the Henry Clay Frick House underwent renovations. The Times had previously reported in June 2023, that Sotheby’s would purchase the building from the Whitney for roughly $100 million. Proceeds from the sale will be put towards expanding the Whitney’s endowment.

Swiss architect Herzog & de Meuron, based in Basel, will collaborate with NY’s PBDW Architects on the design of the five-story building. Herzog & de Meuron is famed for its transformation and reuse of existing buildings including the Park Avenue Armory as well as projects including Tate Modern in London, and the de Young Museum in San Francisco. “By reviving lost spaces, carefully inserting new ones and doing other subtle interventions with a considered palette of materials, the building will be prepared for its new role in the auction world,” Jacques Herzog, one of the firm’s founders, said in a statement, “and will also be more accessible again for visitors and the people of New York.”

Per the Times, the Breuer building’s exterior has protected status based on being in a landmarked district. The building itself is not individually landmarked and the interior is not protected, though last year an organization dedicated to preserving modern architecture, had filed a request with NYC’s Landmarks Preservation Commission seeking to protect its interiors. Charles F. Stewart, CEO of Sotheby’s, said last year that the auction house was “committed to preserving the integrity of what’s loved about the building,” including the lobby. Sotheby’s has also said it does not plan to alter the building’s exterior.

Stewart called the Breuer building “a museum masterpiece,” and said in a statement, “we embark on its adaptation with the same level of care and respect that we would give to a great work of art.”

Sotheby’s, which recently also opened new flagships in Paris and Hong Kong, said it will keep ownership of its current headquarters at 1334 York Avenue.

Per the NY Times, last week, Sotheby’s was also in the news last week for having closed a $1 billion investment deal with ADQ, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund, which joined as a minority shareholder of Sotheby’s together with majority owner Patrick Drahi.