| 980 Madison Avenue | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Interactive map of 980 Madison Avenue | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Modern[1] |
| Location | 980Madison Avenue,New York, New York, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 40°46′29″N73°57′49″W / 40.774798°N 73.963559°W /40.774798; -73.963559 |
| Construction started | 1948 |
| Completed | 1950[1] |
| Cost | over $1,000,000 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Walker & Poor[1] |
980 Madison Avenue (also known as theParke-Bernet Galleries building) is a building located atMadison Avenue and East 76th Street on theUpper East Side ofManhattan inNew York City. It served as the headquarters ofParke-Bernet Galleries from its opening on November 10, 1949, to its sale in 1987. In 2006,TheNew York Times wrote that the building had functioned as "theGrand Central Terminal of the art world."[2] The building is part of theUpper East Side Historic District.
When completed at a cost of over $1,000,000, the building occupied ablock, from Seventy-sixth to Seventy-seventh streets on Madison Avenue. It had ten galleries and a larger auditorium, all covered inmohair, that could seat 600 and 2,000 people, respectively. The building had over 45,000square feet and had a stage modeled uponthose on Broadway.The New York Times wrote that the building was "hailed as a new departure in commercial structures."[3] It was designed to be only six stories tall by the architects,A. Stewart Walker andAlfred Easton Poor, to allow light to reach the nearbyCarlyle Hotel.[2]
The building has analuminum sculpture titled "Venus and Manhattan" byWheeler Williams ofVenus. The statue is roughly 16 feet (4.9 m) by 9 feet (2.7 m), and upon its construction was praised byWilliam Adams Delano, Robert W. Dowling, andFrancis Keally (the president of theMunicipal Art Society). Parts of the statue protruded 18 inches (46 cm) over the building line, and Parke-Bernet agreed to pay $25 per year to 'rent' the space occupied by the statue.[4][5]
Parke-Bernet, an American auction house, had previously been headquartered at 30 East 57th Street. The galleries there which were considered very lavish.The New York Times wrote in 1949 that they were "always looked on as the most luxurious auction rooms in the world."[3] In June 1949, after auctioning theJoseph Brummer art collection, Parke-Bernet ended auctions for the summer as its headquarters were to betorn down and a new building be constructed to hold the galleries.[6] While the building was under construction, the auction house was based in theBrummer Gallery.[6]
The lot at 980Madison Avenue had previously been occupied by a house owned bySeth Milliken and fiverowhouses.[1]Walker & Poor designed the building in a modern style,[1][7] and it was opened on November 10, 1949. The opening ceremony had around 2,500 attendees and speakers included Hiram H. Parke,Robert W. Dowling and Leslie A. Hyam.[3] The move led to the development of an art market on upper Madison Avenue.[8] In March 1966Peregrine Pollen, then president ofSotheby Parke Bernet, used the building for a concert bypianistPhilippe Entremont.[9] In 1967, abrownstone neighboring the galleries caught fire, and 200 people were evacuated from the building. None of the exhibits were damaged.[10]
On June 9, 1987,Sotheby Parke-Bernet announced that it was closing the galleries, causing an uproar in the New York City art community.Klaus Perls, a German art dealer, said ''I am shattered by the news. I thought that Sotheby's was the greatest asset to the art market in New York that could be imagined. I think a lot of the glamour that has characterized the art market in New York over the last 20 years is going to disappear when Sotheby's leaves the premises.'' Parke-Bernet relocated to itsYork Avenue galleries.[8] The building was then divided into small rooms fortenants and included in theUpper East Side Historic District.
Also in 1987,Larry Gagosian leased a small office there, gradually growing into it a multi-floor operation that eventually spanned nearly half the entire building.[11] The gallery's first show there, “Jasper Johns: The Maps,” opened in February 1989.[11]
In the 2000A.I.A. Guide to New York City the building was described as "an insipid box unrelated to any cultural values."[2]
In 2006,Aby Rosen offered to restore the building to its original appearance, but made the offer contingent upon being able to construct a 30-story glass tower on top of the galleries.[2][12] The tower was designed byNorman Foster[13] and supported by prominent figures such asJeff Koons,Tory Burch, andRonald Perelman. However, many in New York disliked the proposed design.[12][14] AfterManhattan Community Board 7 voted against the proposal in October 2006,[15] theNew York City Landmarks Commission also reviewed the proposal and rejected it in January 2007.[16] Rosen and Foster then proposed a new, six story addition in May 2008,[17] and in November 2009 a smaller, five story addition was accepted.[18] The proposal had not been started in 2013 and Aby Rosen put the property on the market.[19]
In 2019 Ramy Brook, a fashion house, opened aflagship store at the location.[20] Rosen's company,RFR Holding, obtained a $238 millioncommercial mortgage-backed security loan for the building in 2021.[21][22] At the time, Rosen was spending money to renovate the building and attract art-related tenants.[22] Two women's clothing stores leased space at 980 Madison Avenue in early 2023.[23] RFR proposed leasing 85 percent of the building's space toBloomberg Philanthropies in October 2023, displacing Gagosian from the site.[24][25]
Media related to980 Madison Avenue at Wikimedia Commons