"We knew the building could not be complete until the public claimed it as its own, and that is the joy of today," said d'Harnoncourt before she herself walked into the building and her eyes welled with tears.
It was less a day for throngs than quiet contemplation of art; the center spine of the Perelman, a skylit galleria lined with sculpture, rarely hosted more than a dozen visitors at a time.
But those who did turn up were audibly wowed, offering security guards impromptu reviews of the art and the space, and releasing exclamations as they turned the corner into the sunny central arcade.
"Oh my God, it's beautiful. The exterior is gorgeous. The hall filled with light is exquisite," said Lucinda Trask, a Port Richmond costume designer who came to study the collections of fashion designers James Galanos, Gustave Tassell and Ralph Rucci.
Construction workers, infants rolled about by their grandparents, a couple of medical students, a drawing collector from New York - everyone looked delighted by the 173,000-square-foot addition.
The building's namesake smiled at the sight of people sitting in the cafe, passing in front of photos by Alfred Stieglitz and examining spaces designed by New York architect Richard Gluckman.
"It's fantastic. Everyone just raves about it," said Raymond Perelman, who along with his wife, Ruth, gave $15 million toward the project.
He also admired something else he gave - or at least loaned - for the opening.
"This was in my living room," he said, pointing to Aristide Maillol's bronze of a woman of ample proportions. "Anne [d'Harnoncourt] said it would look better in here."
And does it?
"I guess so," he said. "Look at how high that ceiling is. My living room is high, but not like this."
For her part, d'Harnoncourt's impromptu arias about the building's potential could hardly be contained. She stood in the building's foyer, accepting compliments and talking art.
