Lever House Art Collection

Since Lever House was purchased and refurbished by RFR Realty in 1998, the glass-enclosed lobby has been the location for numerous contemporary art exhibitions. The landmark modern building, designed by Gordon Bunshaft and completed in 1952, offers a clean, pristine, and highly visible space for the presentation of art. The first few exhibitions at... Lever House were temporary loan shows, borrowed directly from artists and galleries, including Alexander Calder, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Stephan Balkenhol, and Isamu Noguchi (who designed an unrealized sculpture garden for the original plan, and also designed the marble seating now in place on the plaza). Beginning in 2003, RFR President Aby Rosen and private dealer Alberto Mugrabi conceived the idea of forming the Lever House Art Collection. It was decided to invite artists to create artworks specifically for the Lever House lobby which would be on extended view for approximately three months, and then purchased for the Collection. Curator Richard D. Marshall directs the program. The first commission was a neon installation by Keith Sonnier that delineated and illuminated the geometric architecture of the lobby.Read More