The very first space Andy Warhol used as an artist’s studio in New York City, where he paid $150/month in rent to the city, has now sold for a staggering $9.9 million, The Real Deal reports.
The former firehouse building at 159 East 87th on the Upper East Side came on the market in April this year and was asking $9.975 million at the time. The two-story building was owned by the billionaire art dealer Guy Wildenstein, according to TRD. Wildenstein was most recently in the news on charges of money laundering and tax fraud relating to his vast art collection.
That so much wealth should now be associated with this building is contrary to how it first became known. Warhol started working from here in 1962 when he could no longer store his work at his mother’s home nearby on Lexington Avenue. He only stayed for a year, and then moved on to a building in Midtown, which became known as the original Factory. Warhol did however create his Death and Disaster series while he worked at the firehouse.
At the time of its listing in April, the brokers, Cushman & Wakefield said the property was ideal for the creation of condos, a townhouse or some type of mixed-use building, but it’s not yet clear what the future has in store for this rather modest-looking building.