New York’s Guggenheim Museum holds one of the nation’s finest collections of modern and contemporary art. Even more famous is the collection’s home – Frank Lloyd Wright’s singular building that is an architectural landmark. The Guggenheim is located at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.
Solomon Guggenheim
Solomon Robert Guggenheim was an American businessman, art collector and philanthropist. Born into a wealthy mining family, Guggenheim founded the Yukon Gold Company in Alaska. He began collecting art in the 1890s. After World War I he retired from his business to pursue full-time art collecting. Eventually, under the guidance of artist Hilla von Rebay, he focused on the collection of modern and contemporary art.
The works were initially displayed in Guggenheim’s suite at the Plaza Hotel until the collection simply grew too large. In 1939 the Museum of Non-Objective Painting opened on East 54th Street. Four years later the Guggenheim Foundation commissioned a new building from famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. After 16 years of numerous designs and delays, the current museum opened in October 1959.
Architectural landmark
[su_quote cite=”Frank Lloyd Wright”]I can see a tall building of a new type perfectly appropriate to our purpose, having monumental dignity and great beauty.[/su_quote]
In 1943, architect Frank Lloyd Wright wrote these words to Solomon R. Guggenheim. The building Wright envisioned, which opened in 1959, is now seen by many as his masterpiece.
The Guggenheim Museum’s interior space, with its spiral ramp riding to a domed skylight. It continues to thrill visitors and provides a unique forum for the presentation of contemporary art. The rotunda’s inverted ziggurat deviates from the conventional approach to museum design based around a series of interconnected rooms. Instead, visitors make their way through the rotunda on the gentle slope of a continuous ramp. Wright’s open design affords viewers the possibility to see work on multiple levels at the same time, offering an unparalleled perspective on the presentation of an exhibition.
Architecture critic Paul Goldberger has noted, “Wright’s building made it socially and culturally acceptable for an architect to design a highly expressive, intensely personal museum. In this sense almost every museum of our time is a child of the Guggenheim.” Wright’s architecture is as refreshing now as it was more than half a century ago.
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Guggenheim Museum’s Collections
The Permanent Collection – works from the late 19th and 20th centuries, including pieces by Manet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin, Chagall, and Picasso. The museum also holds one of the world’s largest collections of paintings by Kandinsky, as well as works by Klee, Mondrian, Miro, de Kooning, Pollack, Warhol, and Lichtenstein. The photography collection includes over 200 works by Robert Mapplethorpe.
At the moment, you can visit the interesting exhibition Josef Albers in Mexico.
Guided tours and smartphone apps
Self-guided audio tours are available, as well as “Educator” tours daily at 11am & 1pm. Helpful Gallery Guides are stationed throughout the museum to answer questions about the museum and works of art. The guides wear badges indicating which languages they speak.
The Guggenheim app is available for iPhone and Android handsets. Download the free Guggenheim app on iTunes or Google Play for a rich multimedia experience. Use the app with free Wi-Fi at the museum, or borrow a free device at the Multimedia Guide desk.
The Guggenheim is fully accessible and has special accommodations for visitors with sight or hearing impairments. The museum contains an excellent restaurant serving lunch or brunch, as well as a café (with great Central Park views).
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