by The Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan is closing after two decades of defending its prized collection of Asian Himalayan art, and its leaders said Wednesday they wanted to imagine a modern museum without walls. But the museum, which is selling its building, has also faced some financial challenges in recent years.
doors to the Rubin Museum will close on October 6, when last exhibition ends, before transitioning to an institution that will focus on traveling exhibitions and long-term loans. Nearly 40 percent of its employees will lose their jobs; The museum’s director, Jorrit Britschgi, had eliminated nearly two dozen positions in 2019 to reduce costs.
“The definition of what a museum is has evolved dramatically in recent years,” Noah Dorsky, president of the museum’s board of directors, said in a statement. “Historically, the Rubin culture embraces continuous change and evolution, and in our new incarnation, we are redefining what a museum can be.”
The closing of its galleries shocked some museum professionals, who said it was the first time in recent memory that a major museum had closed in New York City. Major museums have faced a serious liquidity crisis since the Covid-19 pandemic changed tourist habits, leading several institutions to cut jobs and increase ticket prices. However, none have taken Rubin’s extreme step of giving up all of his real estate.
“Financially, things are really tough for institutions right now,” said Laura Raicovich, a former museum executive who writes about the challenges facing the arts. “The scarcity model of how cultural organizations operate in this country has become extreme, where dependence on individual donors and corporations is greater than ever.”
The museum said it would not close its building due to financial problems. A museum spokeswoman said its endowment had grown to more than $150 million by the end of 2023, a considerable amount for an organization of its size. And its budget has grown since the pandemic.
But there were signs of challenges when it came to operating expenses. The Rubin Museum had a deficit of $5.9 million in 2022, according to its most recent tax filings. And like many museums, it saw its drop in attendance after the pandemic. But the museum said it expected its next set of tax returns to show a surplus.
Founded in 2004 to promote the art collection of Donald and Shelley Rubin, the art museum has housed nearly 4,000 objects of Himalayan art spanning 1,500 years of history. Its West 17th Street location occupied nearly 70,000 square feet inside a building formerly occupied by Barneys New York, the fashion department store. The Rubin family purchased the property in 1998 for $22 million.
Britschgi said the museum intended to sell its Chelsea location, a piece of prime real estate likely to fetch tens of millions of dollars. That money, he said, would be deposited in the Rubin support fund.
The building next to the museum, 115 Seventh Avenue, which housed Barneys until 2020, sold for $21.5 million to a Queens developer in December. Louis Puopolo, chief operating officer of Douglas Elliman Commercial, said it could be optimal timing for the Rubin and an opportunity to pressure new neighbors to make a competitive offer.
“They’re probably wisely saying, ‘We’ll put it on the market since it’s a fantastic location,’” Puopolo said, adding that the property could be converted to residential or used to house another museum or cultural center.
Over the years, the Rubin’s exhibitions could be revealing; It was one of the only venues in New York that focused on Asian art, and there were a series of praised shows during the 2010s that brought contemporary artists into the context of Tibetan and Nepalese traditions.
“What Rubin tried to do was turn objects that are normally classified as artifacts in other museums into objects that were as vibrant and alive as contemporary art,” said Chitra Ganesh, an artist who will be included in the museum’s latest exhibition. “What the closure indicates is that there continues to be a lack of structural support and visibility for Asian artists.”
Items from the museum’s collection will be included in upcoming installations in Milan and Chicago this year, and an exhibition called “Gateway to Himalayan Art” will travel to universities in several states through 2026.
Erin Thompson, a professor of art crimes at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, said the museum could face questions about its charitable status if the public did not receive regular access to the art collection.
“Donors to the museum have been able to claim tax deductions for helping the museum display art to the American public,” he said. “Will the public continue to benefit from this art once the museum closes?”
Britschgi said the museum, which will remain based in New York and collaborate with other institutions, was classified as a public charity and would not change its legal status. “People hear ‘museum’ and think it’s a space we can walk into,” she said. “That’s changing for us.”
Academics also expressed concern that the museum’s decline would affect its commitment to provenance research. The institution repatriated several religious works of art to Nepal after citizen activists unearthed information indicating that Rubin relics had been smuggled out of the country.
Britschgi noted that the museum recently hired another employee to conduct provenance research. “Repatriation remains an important part of our work,” she said. “This decision has nothing to do with the works that we have repatriated.”
The museum director said he was proud of his seven years in the role. He had planned to leave in 2021, but he stayed during the pandemic after the board allowed him to work remotely from Europe.
“I am proud to have led the organization through interesting times and, in part, turbulent times as well,” Britschgi said. “I am proud to have led the organization through a phase of innovation and experimentation, and now a phase of bold change and transformation as we enter a new chapter.”
Ronda Kaysen contributed reports.
