The magnificent Alexander Calder sculpture, “Le Guichet” (“The Box Office”), is leaving Lincoln Center briefly for a temporary stay at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Mayor Bloomberg announced today.
It will be on view starting tomorrow through the end of summer at the Garden’s Osborne Garden.
Earlier this year, Lincoln Center paid tribute to Mayor Bloomberg at its annual spring gala by offering to move the Calder piece to any place in city for 90 days.
After a citywide location search, First Deputy Mayor Patricia E. Harris and Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin selected the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which is celebrating its centennial year.
“Brooklyn Botanic Garden is one of New York City’s most beautiful settings, and as it celebrates its 100th year, Le Guichet will make it an even more special place to visit this summer,” Bloomberg said.
“We look forward to sharing this extraordinary work of art with everyone who visits the Garden this summer as we celebrate our 100th birthday,” said Brooklyn Botanic Garden President Scot Medbury. “The Osborne Garden’s linear, symmetric landscape will provide an exceptional setting for Le Guichet’s whimsical silhouette, and allow visitors to experience both the sculpture and the setting anew.”
Le Guichet was created by Alexander Calder in 1963 and presented to Lincoln Center in 1965 as a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Lipman. Straddling the Center’s north plaza in front of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the sculpture balances on four arched legs that create a series of archways through which viewers can pass. It will be disassembled and moved from Lincoln Center in a daylong move requiring a crew of four to five and a specialized fine art mover.
It will be reassembled in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Osborne Garden, the first space encountered when entering the garden from its Eastern Parkway entrance.
To celebrate 100 years of service to Brooklyn and beyond, the Garden will host a bee-themed centennial celebration which is free to all visitors (Bee-Day, June 12); present an exhibition of community-contributed photos, memories, and memorabilia from the past century (100 Years, 100 Stories, opening June 13); and celebrate the opening of the Herb Garden in August – the first new garden added to Brooklyn Botanic Garden since 1955.