New York’s Most Inaccessible Museum Is Getting Ready for Its Close-Up

Culture + LifestyleNew York’s Most Inaccessible Museum Is Getting Ready for Its Close-UpThe Solow Art & Architecture Gallery will finally—it seems—open its doors to the public in 2023

By Shivani Vora

January 19, 2022

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The iconic bull statue by Pablo Picasso in front of the Solow Building on West 57th Street in New York City, where a nearly inaccessible art gallery will apparently open to the public in 2023.John Lamparski

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It’s a two-decade-old art gallery that’s home to a collection of works and among the most prestigious in the nation, but New York’s Solow Art & Architecture Gallery, at 9 West 57th Street, has never been open to the public. Finally, that will no longer be the case—at least, starting in 2023. The New York Post reported that the gallery will welcome art fans, the generally curious, or any passersby sometime next year.

Soliviev Group, founded by real estate mogul Sheldon Solow, who died last November, owns and manages 9 West 57th Street, open since 1975 and one of the swankiest and priciest office buildings in the city. The company’s vice chairman Hayden Soloviev—one of Solow’s grandsons—confirmed the news of the opening to the Post. Solow Art & Architecture gallery is also said to be expanding, with an extension on the West 58th Street side of the building.

The gallery’s inaccessibility is something of a sore point for the both art aficionados and the public, according to Natasha Schlesinger, the founder of the art advisory and tour company ArtMuse. “Everyone is excluded from it, and even the most well-connected people can’t get in,” she says. “I’ve gotten a glimpse by peering in through the windows but have never actually been inside.”

 A spoof website for the foundation that was set by a Washington-based art collector, Ethan Arnheim, spells out its off-limits status in a comical way that speaks to the truth.  In keeping with the way stores, museums, and restaurants indicate their opening hours, the home page lists the days of the week in the following way:

Monday: Inaccessible

Tuesday: Closed

Wednesday: No public hours

Thursday: Not open

Friday: Same as the rest of the week

Saturday: None

Sunday: Absolutely not

The gallery is also controversial because Solow and his art foundation got tax benefits from the space, even though it was shuttered to the outside world.  Again, Arnheim’s site brings this fact to the forefront. 

The gallery is also controversial because Solow and his art foundation receive tax benefits from the space, even though it was shuttered to the outside world. Again, its site appears to almost flout this fact. “The gallery was created by Sheldon Solow, a billionaire New York developer, and is classified as a 501(c)3 private operating foundation. According to its official mission, it ‘maintains and displays artwork for exhibition to the public.’ There is no public access to any of the artwork.” The explanation continues, “As a private operating foundation, it affords tax benefits to the sole member of its board, Sheldon Solow.”

Never mind this detail, Schlesinger says that she would gladly give private tours of the gallery because she knows that its collection would be well appreciated by anyone who likes art, even a little. The works on display at Solow are valued at more than $200 million, according to its site. Blockbuster pieces include the circus-themed Henry Matisse cutouts piece called Acrobats and a Joan Miró blue-hued painting named Peinture. Other acclaimed artists on show are said to include Alberto Giacometti, Francis Bacon, and Henry Moore.

“I am so excited to add this to a list of must-hit art destinations in New York,” Schlesinger says. “Let’s not look back at what was and look forward to this new addition. “

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