If you ever wanted to rent a building with art historical significance, Andy Warhol’s former New York studio and apartment, where Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked from 1983 until his death in 1988, has now hit the market.
The 57 Great Jones Street property in the Bowery is available for $60,000 per month for a minimum of 10 years.
Basquiat rented the second floor space from Warhol shortly after they first met. Today, the real estate agency Meridian Capital Group described that space as an “open loft space with high ceilings and multiple skylights.”
Village Preservation, an architectural conservation society, in conjunction with Two Boots Pizza, installed a plaque on the building’s exterior commemorating the former resident in 2016, reading, “Basquiat’s paintings and other work challenged established notions of high and low art, race and class, while forging a visionary language that defied characterization.”
Courtesy of Meridian Capital Group/Photo Sylvester Zawadzki
The exterior of the building is also adorned in street art—a public tribute to the late artist, who started his career as one half of the graffiti art duo SAMO.
Warhol originally purchased the building in 1970. Prior to Warhol’s purchase, however, the building came with a rich history. Originally constructed in the 1860s, it was purchased by Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli—aka the gangster Paul Kelly—who opened the Brighton Athletic Club in 1904. The building was subsequently used as a metal works business and kitchen supply company until 1970.
Most recently, the building was home to the exclusive Japanese restaurant Bohemian. Among the neighbors are the galleries Venus Over Manhattan and Eric Firestone Gallery.
Featuring 6,600-square-feet spread across three floors, the commercial-use building is currently listed with Meridian Capital Group. Of the sale, John Roesch, director and one of the exclusive brokers, said in an email, “We would love to keep this building in the art community.”
Source: Luxury - robbreport.com
