The record
Five Noir and Citny segments from Wings of Desire, taken off Madison Avenue for restoration and last reported in storage in Connecticut.
Five of the most photographed segments anywhere are in a store in Connecticut, and this listing — filed under the state, with no town — is what the catalogue made of that.
They were painted in October 1985 on Waldemarstraße in West Berlin, Thierry Noir taking the left part and Kiddy Citny the right, in the heads both artists are known for. Liselotte and Armin Orgel-Köhne photographed them the same year and the pictures were used everywhere for Berlin's 750th anniversary in 1987; the same segments are clearly visible in Wings of Desire, which Wim Wenders filmed in West Berlin that year.
How they reached America can no longer be settled. They were probably bought in the early 1990s by Jerry I. Speyer, co-owner of Tishman Speyer, and set up outside the firm's headquarters at 520 Madison Avenue. A second account has Limex selling them to the Museum of Modern Art in 1990 for 500,000 marks; the museum could not confirm it.
For years they stood in a small courtyard beside the entrance at 520 Madison Avenue, and the weather worked on them. In 2015 they were removed to a warehouse in New Jersey for careful restoration. According to the Canadian artists and filmmakers Vid Ingelevics and Blake Fitzpatrick, who have spent years tracking the Wall in North America, they came back to Manhattan after about six months and were installed in the building's lobby, stood there for around two years, and were then taken away again to a depot in Connecticut. Whether anyone intends to put them back where they can be seen could not be established.
The catalogue holds a separate record for the Madison Avenue courtyard. This one is for the objects themselves, in the place they are now.
How did it get here?
Painted by Thierry Noir and Kiddy Citny on Waldemarstraße in October 1985; probably bought in the early 1990s by Jerry I. Speyer for 520 Madison Avenue, though a second account has Limex selling them to the Museum of Modern Art in 1990 for 500,000 marks, which the museum could not confirm.
Sources & verification
Federal Foundation — Berlin Wall worldwide, site entry ↗
The five Noir and Citny segments that stood at 520 Madison Avenue until 2015, the two competing accounts of their purchase by Jerry I. Speyer or by MoMA, their decay outdoors and removal to a New Jersey warehouse for restoration, the account by Vid Ingelevics and Blake Fitzpatrick of their return to the Manhattan lobby for about two years and subsequent storage in Connecticut, the October 1985 painting on Waldemarstraße, the Orgel-Köhne photographs used for Berlin's 750th anniversary, and their appearance in Wings of Desire.
Source accessed 2026-09-17
Federal Foundation — Berlin Wall worldwide ↗
The source lists this place as a Berlin Wall location. Coordinates, where supplied, are source-reported and may represent a general area. This is not independent verification of authenticity, current presence, or public access.
Source accessed 2026-09-17 · Source record 173
Last verified: Not yet verified
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