After a protracted legal battle, the Picasso tapestry "Le Tricorne" will be removed from its Seagram Building home of 55 years and relocated to the New York Historical Society.
Though the iconic 95-year-old tapestry has hung in the lobby of the Park Ave building's Four Seasons Restaurant since 1959, building developer Aby Rosen has been attempting to have it removed, claiming a need to repair the limestone wall behind it. Initially, a judge ruled that the tapestry could not be removed without the permission of its owner, the New York Landmarks Conservancy; the Conservancy believed moving the tapestry would cause "irreparable damage," and that it could "crack like a potato chip."
Now, the Conservancy has agreed to send the tapestry uptown, though not without some trepidation. "Our concerns have not evaporated,” Peg Breen, director of the Conservancy, told the Daily News. “It’s going to be a tricky move — an elaborate process taking a lot of people. It has to be detached and rolled around a giant tube. Anything can happen."
Rosen, a prolific collector himself, had previously planned to install one of his own collection pieces in place of "Le Tricorne." He has also agreed to pay for the tapestry's removal, which will take place at an unannounced date.
