2024-04-27T03:51:32-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/136827459/sale-of-twombly-painting-to-help-fund-oma-designed-addition-to-the-wilshire-boulevard-temple Nicholas Korody 2015-09-16T20:59:00-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/lo/lo88nf7fmz1chis4.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>It's something like cultural alchemy: the sale of a single painting is set to pay for half of a new OMA-designed annex space for the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, according to an announcement made today by the congregation. Donated by the philanthropist&nbsp;Audrey Irmas, the painting is a 1968 "blackboard"&nbsp;painting by the artist Cy Twombly.</p><p>Actually, according to predicted figures, the sale of the&nbsp;eight-foot-wide, grey-and-white painting would just about cover the $60 million price tag of the new building. As reported by&nbsp;<a href="http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/09/15/sale-of-twombly-work-to-help-fund-expansion-of-wilshire-boulevard-temple-in-los-angeles/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the New York Times</a>, the sale of a similar, but smaller, painting last year at Christie's brought in $69.9 million.<br><br><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/uj/ujrs7s0zsze3r4fu.jpg"><br><br>Irmas is a long-time congregant at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, the oldest in Lost Angeles and a historic center for the Jewish community.<br><br>&ldquo;I am thrilled and honored to be a part of the new addition designed by the world renowned Rem Koolhaas and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture&nbsp;at Wilshire Boulevard Temple," Irmas stated.&nbsp;<br><br>According to the press release...</p>