The Whitney Museum wants to raise funds for a new headquarters by auctioning artworks

New York - The famous New York museum Whitney wants to raise funds for the construction of its new headquarters through the auction of artworks. The auction house Sotheby's will sell a total of 25 paintings and sculptures, some of which have been donated by the artists themselves. The museum's management aims to raise more than eight million dollars (approximately 160 million crowns), which will then be invested in the new building according to the plans of architect Renzo Piano.
    Sotheby's has included the works designated to support the museum in the contemporary art auction, which will take place on May 14 and 15. The collection includes works by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and objects by Jeff Koons.
    The Whitney Museum of American Art currently resides in downtown New York on the Upper East Side. The new building is being constructed in the area of the former slaughterhouses in southwest Manhattan and is expected to be completed by 2015.
    Renzo Piano designed the expansive gallery as a kind of sculptural work: it will be largely clad in metal and will also feature the largest completely open exhibition space in New York. The construction is estimated to cost a total of 760 million dollars.
    After its completion, the current museum building - a striking brutalist structure built in the 1960s according to the plans of Marcel Breuer, will serve the needs of the Metropolitan Museum.