Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art

The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art originated from an accidental discovery. While driving through Chelsea, founder Donald Rubin spotted a for-sale sign in the window of what was then the original Barneys New York department store. He stepped inside and, while descending the store's dramatic steel and marble spiral staircase, immediately envisioned the building as the perfect home for the Himalayan art collection he and his wife, Shelley, had been assembling since the mid-nineteen seventies.