Rubin Museum, haven for Asian art, closes after twenty years

The Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan will close after two decades of defending its prized art collection from Himalayan Asia, with leaders saying Wednesday they wanted to imagine a modern museum without walls. But the museum, which is selling its building, also faced financial problems and had become a focal point in recent discussions about the history of religious objects looted from Asian countries.

Doors to the Rubin Museum closes on October 6, when the time comes last exhibition ends, before the institution transitions to a skeleton crew that will process long-term loans and research queries and assist with fundraising. Nearly 40 percent of employees will lose their jobs a series of cuts that started in 2019 when the museum's leader, Jorrit Britschgi, eliminated almost twenty positions due to dwindling funds.

“The definition of what a museum is has evolved dramatically in recent years,” Noah Dorsky, the museum's board chairman, said in a statement. “Historically, Rubin's culture has embraced constant change and evolution, and in our new incarnation we are redefining what a museum can be.”

The galleries' closure shocked some museum professionals, who said it was the first time in their recent memory that a major New York City museum has closed. Leading museums have faced a serious cash crunch since the Covid-19 pandemic changed tourists' habits, forcing several institutions to cut jobs and increase ticket prices. However, no one has taken the Rubin's extreme step of giving up all of their real estate.

“Financially, things are very difficult 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 before.”

Established in 2004 to promote the art collection of Donald and Shelley Rubin, the art museum housed nearly 4,000 Himalayan artifacts spanning 1,500 years of history. The West 17th Street location spanned nearly 70,000 square feet in a building previously occupied by Barneys New York, the fashion department store. The Rubin family purchased the property in 1998 for $22 million.

Britschgi said the museum planned to sell its Chelsea location, prime real estate that would likely fetch tens of millions of dollars. That money, he said, would be deposited into the Rubin maintenance fund.

Over the years, Rubin's exhibitions could be revealing; it was one of the few places in New York to focus on Asian art, and in the 2010s it hosted a series of acclaimed shows that brought contemporary artists into the context of Tibetan and Nepalese traditions.

“What the Rubin tried to do was take objects that would normally be classified as artifacts in other museums and create objects that were as vibrant and alive as contemporary art,” says Chitra Ganesh, an artist who will be included in the final exhibition of the museum. “What the closure indicates is that there is still a lack of structural support and visibility for Asian artists.”

Erin Thompson, a professor of art crime at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, noted that the museum could face questions about its charitable status if the public were not given regular access to the art collection.

“Donors to the museum have been able to claim tax deductions for helping the museum exhibit art to the American public,” she said. “Will the public continue to benefit from this art if the museum closes?”

Britschgi said the museum, which will remain based in New York and collaborate with other institutions, is classified as a public charity and will not change its legal status. “People hear 'museum' and think it's a space we can walk into,” he said. “That changes for us.”

Scholars also expressed concern that the museum's demise would impact its commitment to provenance research. The institution repatriated several religious works of art back to Nepal after civil activists uncovered information indicating that relics from the Rubin had been smuggled out of the country.

“It was a good place for research,” said Ashish Dhakal, a graduate student at Columbia University who focuses on Nepali art. “But it has a difficult relationship with the field because so many objects have questionable provenance.”

Britschgi noted that the museum recently hired another employee to conduct provenance research. “Repatriation remains an important part of our work,” he said. “This decision has nothing to do with the works we have repatriated.”

The museum director said he was proud of his seven-year tenure. He planned to leave in 2021 but stayed on during the pandemic after the board allowed him to work remotely from Europe.

“I am proud that I have led the organization through interesting and sometimes turbulent times,” says Britschgi. “I am proud to have led the organization through a phase of innovation and experimentation, and now through a phase of bold change and transformation as we enter a new chapter.”