The Galleries had previously been headquartered at 30 East 57th Street, which were recognized as very lavish. The New York Times wrote that they were "always looked on as the most luxurious auction rooms in the world." In June 1949, after auctioning the Joseph Brummer art collection, Parke-Bernet ended auctions for the summer as its headquarters were to be torn down and a new building be constructed to hold the galleries. While the building was under construction, the auction house was based in the Brummer Gallery. The building was opened on November 10, 1949, with a ceremony that had around 2,500 attendees. Speakers included Hiram H. Parke, Robert W. Dowling and Leslie A. Hyam. When completed at a cost of over $1,000,000, the building occupied a block, from Seventy-sixth to Seventy-seventh streets on Madison Avenue. It had ten galleries and a larger auditorium, all covered in mohair, that could seat 600 and 2,000 people, respectively. The building had over 45,000 square feet and had a stage modeled upon Broadway stages. The New York Times wrote that the building was "hailed as a new departure in commercial structures." It was designed to be only six stories tall by the architects, A. Stewart Walker and Alfred Easton Poor, to protect light going to the Carlyle Hotel. The move led to the development of an art market on upper Madison Avenue. In March 1966, then president of Sotheby Parke Bernet, Peregrine Pollen, used the building for a concert by pianistPhilippe Entremont. In 1967, a brownstone neighboring the galleries caught fire, and 200 people were evacuated from the building. None of the exhibits were damaged. On June 9, 1987, Sotheby Parke-Bernet announced that it was closing the galleries, causing an uproar in the New York City art community. Klaus Perls, a German art dealer said, I am shattered by the news. I thought that Sotheby's was the greatest asset to the art market in New York that could be imagined. I think a lot of the glamour that has characterized the art market in New York over the last 20 years is going to disappear when Sotheby's leaves the premises. Parke-Bernet relocated to its York Avenue galleries. The building was then divided into small rooms for tenants and included in the Upper East Side Historic District. In the 2000 A.I.A. Guide to New York City, the authors called it "an insipid box unrelated to any cultural values."
Statue
The building has an aluminum sculpture titled "Venus and Manhattan" by Wheeler Williams of Venus. The statue is roughly by, and upon its construction was praised by William Adams Delano, Robert W. Dowling, and Francis Keally. Parts of the statue protruded over the building line, and Parke-Bernet agreed to pay $25 per year to 'rent' the space occupied by the statue.
Proposed 2006 remodel
In 2006, Aby Rosen offered to restore the building to its original appearance, but made the offer contingent upon being able to construct a 30-story glass tower on top of the galleries. The tower was designed by Norman Foster, and supported by prominent figures, such as Jeff Koons, Tory Burch, and Ronald Perelman. However, many in New York disliked the proposed design. The New York City Landmarks Commission reviewed the proposal, and in January 2007 rejected it. Rosen and Foster then proposed a new, six story addition in May 2008, and in November 2009 a smaller, five story addition was accepted.
