945 Madison Avenue, also known as the Breuer Building
Sotheby’s has announced that its new headquarters in the Breuer Building will open to the public on November 8th of this year.
In June 2023, Sotheby’s announced its intention to purchase the iconic Breuer Building, a historical landmark located at 945 Madison Avenue, to use as its New York headquarters. The building, completed in 1966 according to designs by the brutalist architect Marcel Breuer, was originally intended as the home of the Whitney Museum of American Art. However, in 2014, when the Whitney moved to its current location in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, the space was leased out to other museums. The building’s tenant became the Metropolitan Museum of Art, using the building to house its contemporary art collection. More recently, the Frick Collection used the building as a temporary exhibition space during the Frick Mansion’s renovations. Over two years ago, Sotheby’s bought the building from the Whitney for $100 million. According to Sotheby’s CEO Charles Stewart, buying the Breuer Building was “a once in a lifetime opportunity that we couldn’t pass up.” The auction house’s current headquarters are located at 1334 York Avenue. However, they had previously been situated at 980 Madison Avenue between 1964 and 1987, barely more than a block from the Breuer Building. The move to the Breuer will return Sotheby’s to a more central location, closer to the other major Manhattan museums and galleries.
Sotheby’s hired the architectural firms PBDW Architects and Herzog & de Meuron to renovate the Breuer, emphasizing the importance of preserving the building’s original architectural features. The original bush-hammered concrete, bluestone floors, lighting fixtures, and trapezoidal windows have all been carefully maintained. Simultaneously, they have improved accessibility and built out spaces for auction rooms, galleries, and a restaurant. Sotheby’s chairwoman of the Americas, Lisa Dennison, called the building “an architectural masterpiece”, further commenting, “Those who knew it in earlier incarnations will be moved by how we’ve reimagined 945 Madison Avenue, preserving the spirit of nearly 60 years of acclaimed programming. The Breuer’s design, with its remarkable ability to embrace many styles and eras of art, is especially meaningful for an auction house.”
The opening of Sotheby’s new headquarters at the Breuer Building is scheduled for November 8, 2025. The auction house will stage an exhibition of modern and contemporary art to inaugurate the building, followed by its autumn marquee sales starting on November 17th.