The previous residence of one in all New York’s most storied galleries is formally in the marketplace. The primary and second flooring of the Chelsea Arts Tower, which as soon as housed Marlborough Gallery, have been listed for $10.9 million. Jeffrey Zoldan and Roger Gillen of Brown Harris Stevens are dealing with the sale, providing an area that doubles as a chunk of artwork historical past.
The 545 West twenty fifth Avenue location boasts 18-foot-high ceilings, curb-cut entry, and a street-level storage door able to accommodating monumental artworks. With its versatile zoning and an expansive second-floor terrace, the area might probably grow to be one other gallery, a museum, a faculty, or perhaps a health club. However for these conversant in the artwork world, the handle is synonymous with one factor: Marlborough Gallery’s rise and eventual fall.
The sale is the most recent chapter within the gradual dissolution of Marlborough, as soon as one of the vital highly effective galleries on either side of the Atlantic. The gallery, which constructed its repute on artists like Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, and Jackson Pollock, introduced final 12 months that it will be closing its doorways for good after practically 80 years in enterprise. Alongside the Chelsea area, the gallery’s London constructing, a 10-story construction in Mayfair, was listed in September of final 12 months for roughly $32 million.
Marlborough’s demise has been something however easy. A bitter inner battle inside the family-run enterprise culminated in authorized disputes, allegations of monetary mismanagement, and, finally, the closure of its New York operations. In 2019, the gallery had deliberate a grand consolidation of its Chelsea and Midtown areas, just for the plan to unravel after an influence wrestle inside the Lloyd and Levai households—the dynasty that had managed the gallery since its founding in 1946. By 2020, amid the upheaval, Marlborough’s management had collapsed, and its future as an establishment was doubtful.
Whereas the gallery has promised {that a} portion of its liquidation proceeds will go towards nonprofit arts establishments, the precise particulars of these plans stay unclear. The sunsetting course of is predicted to take years, and whereas the previous gallery now not represents any artists or estates, its stock of work, images, and prints is alleged to be price upward of $250 million.
