Museums - Rubin Museum of Art

Founded in 1999, the Rubin Museum of Art is one of the few museums in the world entirely dedicated to the art of the Himalayas. The 70,000-square-foot museum occupies what was originally the Barney’s Department Store in Chelsea. It was purchased in 1998 and was extensively renovated under the direction of Richard Blinder of the architectural firm Beyer Blinder Belle. RMA inaugurated its new permanent home on October 2, 2004. Shelley and Donald Rubin are the founders of both the collection and of the museum.
The museum’s collection of more than 900 objects is displayed on six floors. It includes Himalayan paintings, sculpture, textiles, and prints spanning a period from the second to the nineteenth century. The People’s Republic of China sent objects from the Potala Palace in Lhasa to be included in the museum’s initial installation. In addition to the permanent collection, the RMA shows changing exhibitions of Himalayan art, some created there and others traveling from other institutions.