Bonhams Unveils New US Headquarters in New York

Summary

• Auction house Bonhams opens its new US headquarters, home to Steinway Hall at 111 West 57th Street in Manhattan
• To launch the building, the house is hosting several exhibitions across its four story space
• Highlights include a renovated Steinway Rotunda, which now serves as an exhibition space; two auction rooms and a triple-height gallery

Bonhams unveiled its new US headquarters, leaving behind its previous Madison Avenue address for the neoclassical grandeur of 111 West 57th Street, the century-old home of Steinway Hall and the world’s skinniest skyscraper.

With a presence in a Manhattan’s “Billionaire’s Row” stretch secured, the move marks a major global and local expansion for the 230-year-old auction house. Rather than merely showcase, the new space is built to inspire and engage audiences, with aims to establish a more public-facing cultural destination for art-lovers of all kinds.

Across 42,000-square-feet, the flagship unites the storied Steinway Rotunda with an 80-foot glass Atrium, gracing each exhibition with a sense of airy opulence. Alongside a pair of world-class auction rooms, a triple-height gallery and on-site studios, storage and offices for staff, marvel-worthy built features include a grand staircase and, of course, Steinway Hall, restored as an intimate exhibition venue. In scale and intention, Bonhams hopes define a new cultural and collector experience with its new four stories.

Filling the space itself is an impressive slate of inaugural exhibitions, now on view. Starting on the ground floor, the building opens with  Striking a Chord, its current centerpiece showcase. Pulling inspiration from the Hall’s musical and artistic legacy, the exhibition brings together works by John Chamberlain, Francis Bacon, Banksy, Constantin Brancusi and more, to explore the makings of a masterpiece and moments when art transcends the visual and into worlds of sounds, space and feeling.

In the Rotunda nearby sits the 1919 Steinway & Sons Model B Grand Piano, famously played by Elton John to record of his 1974 album Caribou. The piano, encircled by a selection of luxury items and the room’s intricate, hand-crafted columns and ceilings, will be central to the opening festivities with guest performances before being offered in the forthcoming Masters of Pop sale in April. Upstairs, Modern Cuban Painters from Havana to New York pays tribute to the landmark 1944 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Paintings on view, from MoMA’s original iteration and elsewhere, take us back to the bustle of New York’s 1940s gallery scene, with contributions from Wifredo Lam, Mario Carreño, Cundo Bermúdez, Mariano Rodríguez and Amelia Peláez.

Further highlights include picks from February’s online sales, such as Modern and Contemporary Art, the house’s biannual Cuban art sale, a major work by Osman Hamdi Bey, and Heavyweights & Headliners: Legends in Sports and Rock.

“Opening our new US flagship marks a defining moment for Bonhams,” said the house’s US Managing Director, Lilly Chan. “This building enables a more experiential approach to the way we engage with collectors, audiences and partners – bringing together exhibitions, auctions and public programming in a far more expansive and meaningful way.”