New York's iconic Breuer Building is now Sotheby's global headquarters. Here's a first look

When legendary modernist architect Marcel Breuer designed a new home for the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1966, he intended to ‘transform the vitality of the street into the sincerity and profundity of art.’

An art piece in its own right, the Madison Avenue landmark — known fondly as the Breuer Building — is defined by its dramatic overhangs and protruding angular windows. For decades, it was home to the Whitney and, for the past 10 years, served as an outpost for both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection. Today, Sotheby’s is banking on the building’s storied past, quite literally, by transforming it into its global headquarters.

‘It’s a homecoming of sorts,’ says Charles Steward, Sotheby’s CEO. ‘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.’

Moving from its long-held seat in an all-glass mid-rise much further east on York Avenue, the auction house is now significantly closer to Museum Mile institutions like the Guggenheim and the Met, as well as blue-chip galleries like Gagosian.

Sotheby’s tapped leading architecture practice Herzog & de Meuron (H&dM) to adapt the building. The Swiss firm felt like a fitting choice, given its deft transformation of London’s Bankside Power Station into the Tate Modern, as well as the design of other notable museums including the M+ in Hong Kong and the Parrish Art Museum in Watermill, New York. The Swiss firm worked closely with local preservation practice PBDW Architects on the careful, ‘light-touch’ renovation of the landmarked building.

‘It was a great honour but also a great responsibility,’ says Wim Walschap, H&dM senior partner. ‘One of Breuer's key projects, the building is a rare example of post-war modernism in New York with distinct beauty and clarity, specifically designed for public use. Our goal was to preserve and re-accentuate its timeless appeal and architectural integrity while adapting it for a dynamic future; respecting its original purpose and while preparing it for a new use.’

The seven story, 78,000 sq ft structure now plays host to adaptable exhibition and auction hall spaces, offices and a soon-to-open basement-level restaurant from prolific New York interiors firm Roman and Williams as an extension of their upscale Soho French bistro La Mercerie.

The few major alterations include a seamlessly integrated bulkhead extension toward the building’s rear; a newly centralized freight elevator accommodating the more frequent movement of art throughout the space; and increased ADA accessibility. Gallery spaces on the second through fifth floors were also opened up and reconfigured to host exhibitions.

In the lobby, a new technologically advanced screen was introduced above the main reception desk. Flush-to-the-wall vitrines were added off to one side to delineate a gift shop. On the second floor, a larger 1,832 sq ft open-plan area — with demountable walls — doubles as one of the main auction halls with seating for 90 to 100 guests. On the third floor, walls were positioned on either side of a central corridor so that one of the building’s iconic windows could become the main architectural focal point.

With its soaring 17-foot-tall ceilings and windows facing Madison Avenue, the fourth floor has been fashioned into Sotheby’s marquee sales room. A private mezzanine level was fitted out with double-sided mirror walls and, according to some sources, can only be accessed through a private elevator to accommodate guests that would rather remain anonymous.

Where H&dM and PBDW’s intervention truly shines is in the meticulous restoration of surfaces and light fixtures. Before Sotheby’s acquired the building, the silver bowl light bulbs of the building's famed dome pendants were mismatched, meaning they emitted different hues. A completely new suite of bulbs was introduced, re-enlivening the space with just the right amount of brightness.

Bush-hammered concrete walls were steam-cleaned. Bluestone floors throughout were repolished. Oak flooring in dedicated areas was replaced. The firms went through multiple rounds of approval with local community boards and the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Marking the opening of Sotheby’s new Breuer Building HQ is a robust fall 2025 program. Bolstered by public exhibitions, this year’s New York sales (taking place 18 to 21 November) will focus on the comprehensive Modernist and Impressionist collection of Leonard A. Lauder, as well as that of Cindy and Jay Pritzker. Also on view as part of an upcoming contemporary sale, is Maurizio Cattelan’s solid gold toilet, America (2016), and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Crowns (Peso Neto) painted in 1981. The work was featured as part of Basquiat’s first major retrospective, held in this very building in 1992.

As Madeline Lissner, Sotheby’s EVP of global fine art and major collections, hints, ‘There’ll be many more of these homecoming moments in our galleries’ — but for now, Sotheby’s will celebrate its own.