Rubin Museum of Art
Exterior of Rubin Museum of Art seen from 17th Street (February 2011)
Tufkaa/sandbox is located in New York City
Tufkaa/sandbox
Location of the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City
EstablishedOctober 2, 2004
LocationChelsea, Manhattan
150 West 17th Street
New York, NY 10011
United States of America
Coordinates40°44′24″N 73°59′52″W / 40.7401°N 73.9978°W / 40.7401; -73.9978
TypeArt museum, education center, performance and event venue
Collection size2,000+ objects
Public transit accessBus:
M1, M2, M3, M5, M7, M14, M20
Subway:
Websitermanyc.org

The Rubin Museum of Art is an American museum dedicated to the collection, display, and preservation of the art of the Himalayas and surrounding regions, especially Tibetan art. It is located at 150 West 17th Street between the Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) and Seventh Avenue in the Chelsea neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.

History

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The museum originated from a private collection of Himalayan art which Donald Rubin, the founder of MultiPlan Inc., and his wife Shelley had been assembling since 1974. In 1998, the Rubins purchased, for US$22 million, the building that had been occupied by Barneys New York, a department store for designer fashion which had filed for bankruptcy. The building was remodeled as a museum by preservation architects Beyer Blinder Belle. The original six-story spiral staircase was left intact to become the center of the 25,000 square feet (2,300 square metres) of exhibition space.

The museum opened in October 2004, and displays more than 1,000 objects including paintings, sculpture, textiles, as well as ritual objects from the 2nd to the 20th centuries. The new facade on 17th Street and the five floors of galleries were influenced by Tibetan art, and were conceived by the New York-based museum architects, Celia Imrey and Tim Culbert.[1] The graphic identity was conceived by graphic designer Milton Glaser.

Besides exhibitions based on the museum's permanent collection, it also serves as a venue for national and international traveling exhibitions. The museum is affiliated with two organizations: the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center[2] and the Himalayan Art website to advance the study of Himalayan arts and culture.[3]

See also

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References

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Notes
Further reading
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