One of the most striking attractions in New York is the Solomon Guggenheim Museum. Within its walls you can see a unique collection of contemporary art. For several decades, the museum building has been decorating the city. It is a true masterpiece of architectural art.
History of creation
The museum got its name in honor of the famous American millionaire Robert Guggenheim. In 1848, his father arrived from Switzerland to America and established a quite profitable iron and steel business here. Solomon, from childhood, was fond of art. For several years, he collected in his apartment a magnificent collection of paintings by contemporary masters. The collection was constantly growing, and soon he was organizing art exhibitions. But Guggenheim did not stop there; in 1937, under his leadership, a foundation for contemporary art was created. The fund was actively developing and replenishing, therefore, after 6 years, its founder had a wonderful idea - to build an art museum. Its grand opening took place in 1959. Before the eyes of the townspeople, an original pyramidal structure appeared, made in the form of an inverted tower - gradually expanding towards the top. The highlight of the museum is its beautiful ramp gallery, stretching from the ground to the ceiling. The splendid rotunda gives visitors the opportunity to start enjoying art from the street. The building was so loved by the locals that it soon became a real symbol of New York. The Solomon Guggenheim Museum was built in the middle of a picturesque natural park, which gave it even more charm. In 2005, the museum was reconstructed, the building was equipped with new modern equipment.
Guggenheim Museum Collections
The Guggenheim Museum is a huge art store. His first exposition consisted of paintings by such great artists as Picasso, Delaunay, Kandinsky, Chagall, Mondrian and Bauer. A few years later, the collection was supplemented by works by German surrealists and foreign expressionists. Among the most famous works are the works of Joan Miro, Oskar Kokoschka, and also Paul Klee. In 1949, Robert Guggenheim died, the artist Rebay resigned as director and left the museum, leaving within its walls several paintings from her personal collection - paintings by Schwitters, Kandinsky, Klee, Mondrian and Calder. Thanks to the newly elected director James Swaney, the museum has been replenished with the most unique exhibits of famous avant-garde sculptors. Artists such as Calder, Arp, Brancusi, Smith, Giacometti and Chucky. In 1926, works by the Russian art critic Georgy Kostaki joined the collection of contemporary art. A few years later, the museum was replenished with works by famous impressionists - Picasso, Manet, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Pissarro. In 2008, the museum hosted the first photographic exhibition, the exposition of which included up to two hundred photographs belonging to the best photographer of that time - Robert Mapplethorpe. Later, an art school was opened inside the museum.
Incredible exhibitions
The Solomon Museum is incredibly popular due to its excellent thematic exhibitions. Among the most interesting are the expositions "Africa, the art of the continent", "5 millennia, China", "Aztec Empire". The Russian exhibition deserves special attention. The exposition "Russia" presents the most valuable paintings by Russian artists. Such as - Repin, Vrubel, Kramskoy, Bryullov, Chagall and Laktionov.
Information for tourists
In order to get to the museum, you need to use trains No. 6, 4, 5. Get off at the station "avenue - 86". From here you can walk to the museum.
Museum opening hours:
- daily, except Thursday - from 10:00 - 17:45, Friday - from 10:00 - 20:00.
Films have been filmed several times within the walls of the museum. Among the most famous paintings are Men in Black, International, Once Upon a Time in Rome.
Solomon Guggenheim Museum on New York map
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The Solomon Guggenheim Museum is one of New York's top attractions. It is a collection of modern works of art that have been created since the end of the 19th century.
The museum's collection is constantly expanding; its branches have already opened in London and Paris.
It is not for nothing that the museum bears the name of Solomon Guggenheim, it was this man, having a fairly decent fortune, who decided to collect in one place the creations of contemporary artists that deserve the attention of the public. True, the philanthropist did not understand the paintings at all, therefore he attracted an artist, an art critic and a German baroness in one person - Hille Ribay von Enrheinweissen to such an important and necessary business.
In 1937, the Solomon Guggenheim Foundation was founded, the collection of paintings grew rapidly, and there was a need for a large room where masterpieces of modern art could be exhibited. As a result, a house on 54th Street in Manhattan was assigned to the museum.
Only six years have passed and I had to turn to the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright for help with a request to build a large museum complex. The master's flight of fancy exceeded all expectations, the museum building was put into operation in 1959 and made a splash, because there was no such stylish and original building in New York.
The Guggenheim Museum is located on Fifth Avenue, near 89th Street. You can get to it using the subway (station "86th Street").
It is worth visiting this extraordinary place, because the Solomon Guggenheim Museum is a treasure trove of art of the late 19th and 20th centuries, here you can admire the paintings of Kandinsky, Chagall, Bourgeois, Pollack, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Picasso and many other famous masters of brush and paint.
Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Solomon Guggenheim Museum- an amazing museum of modern art in New York, USA. This place is a treasure trove of works of contemporary fine art, graphics, sculpture, and painting.
The museum owes its existence to Solomon Robert Guggenheim, who, being a patron of the arts, decided in 1937 that there were enough old museums in the world, and he came up with the idea to create a museum that would exhibit the works of his talented contemporaries. He had no idea how it would all end...
More than 20 years have passed from the laying of the first brick to the opening, and unfortunately, the construction was completed when neither the founder nor the architect was alive. By the way, the author of the project of the current building was Frank Lloyd Wright.
Located Guggenheim Museum on the legendary Fifth Avenue, between two streets, not far from the picturesque green Central Park. This location was chosen for a reason. After all, the majority of tourists first of all try to get to this street. This museum surprises visitors from the very beginning with its unusual architecture: this is a very unusual building, consisting of six levels. In it, the viewer must first climb to the top floor using a lift, and then go down the internal spiral staircase. Thanks to this solution, viewing is possible from the ramp, the visitor sees all the halls adjacent to it, in which there are many works by masters of modern art and sculpture.
Building from the street Solomon Guggenheim Museum looks like an inverted cone. The building is especially beautiful in the evening, it is effectively illuminated by multi-colored spotlights, and this makes it a real decoration of the night Manhattan. The museum's collection contains works by many masters of art, from the 19th century to the present day.
In the Solomon Guggenheim Museum you will find works by such masters as Kandinsky, Tannhauser, Chagall, Nirendorf, Cezanne, Pollack, Rauschenberg, Dreyer, Serra, Warhol, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Klee, Picasso, Rousseau, Giacometti, Miro, Léger, Delaunay, Goncharov and many others. The number of works stored in the museum exceeds 6 thousand exhibits. Along with the collections that are exhibited here daily, the Guggenheim Museum also hosts exhibitions and installations by the geniuses of our time.
The Solomon Guggenheim Museum is open seven days a week, its doors are open to visitors even on holidays. The entrance fee to the museum is $18. However, on Saturday evenings there is a way to get into the museum for a more reasonable fee. Employees came up with a wonderful solution in order to attract more visitors. Only once a week the entrance to the museum is exactly as much as you are not sorry to pay for viewing masterpieces. This idea has borne fruit. The lines of tourists on this day are inexhaustible. In addition, every year a festival is held in Manhattan, during which admission to the Guggenheim Museum is free. Then you won't be able to push through here at all!
Art historians from different countries were so inspired by the idea of the Guggenheim that they began to open branches of the Guggenheim Foundation around the world. Exhibitions were opened in Venice, a gallery in London, the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin, and two museums in Las Vegas: the Guggenheim Las Vegas and the Guggenheim Hermitage. The Guggenheim Foundation is the largest network of museums.
Currently, the construction of branches of the Guggenheim Museum does not stop. Four more museums are currently at the design stage, and two others are already under construction. One is located in the picturesque and flourishing Abu Dhabi (UAE), it is located on the artificially created island of Saadiyat. It is assumed that this branch Solomon Guggenheim Museum will be 12 times larger than the original.
Official website of the museum: www.guggenheim.org
Museum address: 5th Avenue, New York.
Telephone: 212 423 3500.
Directions: By subway: lines 4, 5 or 6, 86th Street station.
By bus: M1, M2, M3 or M4, stops "Madison", "Fifth Avenue".
Opening hours: Sunday - Wednesday, Friday: 10:00-17:45.
Thursday is a day off.
Ticket prices: For adults - $22, for students and citizens over 65 years old - $18.
Children under 12 years old enter free of charge.
Photo and video filming is prohibited in the museum.
Information for visitors: Free Wi-Fi is available in the museum.
In the shops located on the territory of the museum, you can buy souvenirs and books.
A cafe, a restaurant and a snack bar offer their services to visitors.
Backpacks, large bags (over 40x40), umbrellas and prams must be checked in to the cloakroom. Notebooks, easels, albums, paints, graphite pencils and ballpoint pens cannot be brought into the halls of the museum.
Museum building
In New York, in the Upper East Side quarter, on 5th Avenue, adjacent to the green massif of Central Park, there is a building of a bizarre elliptical shape - this is the Solomon Guggenheim Museum. Its history began in 1929, when the prominent industrialist Solomon Robert Guggenheim decided to retire and devote himself to collecting art.
Museum interior
As a consultant, he hired Hilla Ribey von Ehrenwiesen, a well-known artist and art critic Baroness. Their attention was focused primarily on abstract art. At first, Guggenheim placed the collection at his home, but by 1937 there was a need to establish a foundation whose goals were to support contemporary creators, help promote their works, as well as educational activities. The foundation was also set up to manage the museum itself. Solomon Guggenheim became its president, and Ribey became director of the foundation's first museum, the Museum of Non-Objective Art, which opened in 1939 in a rented building on 54th Street.
It exhibited works of early modernism by such artists as Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Paul Klee. During the life of the Guggenheim, he was actively replenished with the works of Marc Chagall, Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani. In 1943, the businessman and the baroness decided to write a letter to renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright asking him to design a building specifically for the museum. Preparation and construction took 15 years, 700 sketches were made, six sets of working drawings. Ribey was looking for a site for the construction, her choice was at the intersection of 89th Street and 5th Avenue.
In 1953, the year after Guggenheim's death, his foundation expanded substantially, with James Johnson Sweeney as director. He made up for the essential part of modern art missed by Ribey - subject painting and sculpture, in addition, he went beyond the limits of the 20th century and acquired such a pearl of the collection as the painting “A Man with Crossed Arms” (1899) by Paul Cezanne, and also received a gift of 28 works from collections of Catherine Dreyer, artist and one of the founders of the Anonymous Society, which included representatives of Dadaism Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray. They formed an important part of today's collection of the Guggenheim Museum. These are the works of Juan Gris, Alexander Archipenko, Marcel Duchamp, El Lissitzky, Piet Mondrian.
Construction was under Sweeney's direction, and he had many disputes with Wright, especially regarding the issue of lighting in the cylindrical shape of the building. The architect died six months before the official opening of the museum to the public.
The building itself deserves a separate story. From the street, it looks like a white ribbon rolled up into a cylinder, expanding upwards. Its curvilinear surfaces distinguish the museum from the numerous rectangular skyscrapers of Manhattan. Inside, the space develops in a spiral upwards, the gallery ramp goes from the first floor to the very top. Although Wright used natural rounded shapes, his construction is subject to the strict laws of geometry. It harmoniously combines such shapes as triangles, ovals, squares. Their consonance is noticeable in every detail. For example, the shape of the columns is repeated in the fountain, as well as in the design of the stairs of the Thanhauser Gallery.
In the hall of the museum
The grand opening of the museum took place on October 21, 1959, ten years after the death of Solomon Guggenheim. Some critics said that hanging paintings on concave walls with poor lighting is unacceptable, others - that architecture distracts from the main thing - works of art. Even earlier, several artists had signed a letter to prevent their work from being exhibited in this building. However, over time, both the public and the creators got used to such architecture, which opened up new opportunities for exhibiting both sculpture and painting. To begin the tour, viewers first take the elevator to the top floor and from there descend the spiral ramp, acquainting themselves with the exposition as they go. Six floors of halls adjoin the 400-meter atrium, as well as a number of rooms that were added already in 1992.
Speaking of the museum, one cannot fail to mention the Tanhauser collection, who began collecting paintings as early as 1909 in Munich. Justin Tanhauser, along with his father Heinrich, owned a gallery that promoted young artists. The collection included works by the Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, Futurists and leading German artists such as Franz Marc, August Macke, Paul Klee. In 1963, Justin bequeathed his brainchild to the Guggenheim Foundation, and now it is impossible to imagine the exposition of the museum without his collection. She expanded its time frame, showing the development of art history to modernism, and also significantly expanded the "geography" of art of the 20th century. A separate wing was built for her.
Today, the Solomon Guggenheim Museum is the world's largest collection of works of art from the late 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Its collection includes about six thousand items, including works of the highest level by such artists as O. Renoir, P. Gauguin, V. Van Gogh, P. Picasso, V. Kandinsky, M. Chagall, P. Cezanne, D. Pollock , M. Rothko, E. Warhol. In addition, the museum conducts extensive educational activities, showing the art of entire civilizations - Africa, China. A significant artistic event was the exhibition "Russia!", which took place in 2005 and introduced the American public to the masterpieces of Russian art from the 13th century to the present day.
The Guggenheim Museum in New York bears the name of its founder, a hereditary millionaire industrialist, collector and philanthropist, the son of a successful immigrant who came to Philadelphia from Switzerland. The building, which clearly stands out against the background of the surrounding buildings, is located on the territory of the most densely populated borough of Manhattan, on a segment of the Fifth Avenue Museum Mile, between east streets 88 and 89. Before settling in a permanent place, the museum had to use rented space for more than 20 years, while increasing your collection.
The site for the construction of a new building in the Art Nouveau style was carefully chosen and, in the end, it was decided that the Central Park in front of the facade would help protect against city noise and the appearance of concrete high-rise buildings opposite, but most importantly, it would give a feeling of freedom. Prior to this, several options had been considered, including the western part of the Riverdale district in the Bronx Borough facing the Hudson.
Solomon Guggenheim Museum: history of creation
The first works acquired by the millionaire were the works of Italian and French painters who worked in the Early Renaissance, as well as paintings by American and French artists of the 19th century. The formation of the collection began in the late 1920s, and in 1937 the non-profit Guggenheim Foundation was established, whose main task was to support and popularize contemporary art.
Hilla von Ribay, a German abstract artist and art critic, played a key role in developing the concept of the future museum collection. The chosen direction - avant-garde - corresponded to her hobbies and the interests of the Guggenheim. In subsequent years, the fund was replenished through donations and the acquisition of other collections from the contemporary art segment.
At first, Guggenheim exhibited his collection in various American museums. He pursued the goal of familiarizing compatriots with the unusual work of abstractionists such as Mondrian, Kandinsky, Bauer, etc. In 1939, the Museum of Non-Objective Painting was opened in house number 24, in the eastern part of 54th Street. The first exhibition "Art of the Future" was held here in June of the same year. In 1952, it became known as the Guggenheim Museum.
A curious fact is connected with Hilla von Ribay. She was a companion, artistic advisor and confidant of the Guggenheim, organizer of exhibitions, initiator of the construction and discussion of the design of the new building, as well as the museum's first director. Solomon listened to her advice, but Hilla's relationship with the founder's family did not work out. Shortly after the death of her friend in 1949, the baroness was forced to leave her post. At that time, the place of the chairman of the Board of Directors was occupied by the son of a philanthropist - Harry. The cause of the incident was, apparently, the complex nature of the artist and the radical position regarding the further development of the museum. She was not invited to the opening of the new building on Fifth Avenue and never set foot in it. Hilla ceased to appear in public and engage in social activities. Ribay spent her last years on her estate in Connecticut.
Guggenheim Collections
The main fund of the museum consists of collections of private collections, primarily Solomon Guggenheim himself, his niece Peggy, Justin Tannhauser, Karl Nirendorf, Giuseppe Panza di Bumo, Katherine Dreyer, etc.
After Hilla von Ribey left the museum, the Board of Directors approved the initiative of the new head of the museum to expand the collection by adding works that differ from the original concept. Thanks to this decision, today in the museum collection you can see the works of not only abstract artists and avant-garde artists, but also representatives of other areas of contemporary art:
- expressionists and post-impressionists;
- minimalists and postminimalists;
- surrealists;
- conceptualists;
- modernists, etc.
In addition, the foundation has sculptural and photographic collections.
The permanent exhibition presents works by famous masters. Among them:
- Kandinsky;
- Mondrian;
- Picasso;
- Klee;
- Chagall;
- Leger;
- Kokoschka;
- Van Gogh and many others.
Despite some diversity of the museum collection, the collection is a single whole. There is no division according to specific mediums, time periods, and geographical coordinates.
Temporary exhibitions
The Foundation is engaged in exhibition activities. The building on Fifth Avenue provides areas for temporary exhibitions. On the other hand, visiting museum collections are traditionally exhibited in branches located in Bilbao, Venice and Berlin, and are also shown in other museums.
Initiatives and activities
The museum hosts musical performances, performances, installations, film screenings, lectures. Games, seminars, talk shows and excursions are organized here. There are training programs, master classes, courses for children and family studios. The calendar of events can be found on the official website.
Guggenheim Museum building in New York
During its existence, the collection has changed its address more than once. Due to a significant increase in the collection in the early 1940s, the museum moved from 54th Street to a townhouse at 1071 Fifth Avenue, where a new building subsequently appeared. During the period 1956-59. the collection temporarily occupied premises at No. 7 East 72nd Street.
The most influential, according to the American Institute of Architects, and the most creative genius of American architecture, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the brilliant architect Frank Lloyd Wright, was involved in the development of the project for an unusual structure. Hilla von Ribey approached him with a proposal to create a “temple-museum of non-objectivity” in 1943. From that moment until the official opening of the Guggenheim Museum building, 16 years passed. The delays were due to the rising cost of building materials during the war, the death of the founder, and turmoil in leadership. In fact, the object began to be erected in 1956.
Prior to the final approval of the project, Wright proposed about seven different plans. The main goal was to create something unusual and special, so the traditional museum models had to be abandoned. After the publication of the chosen project, a wave of criticism arose - too bold, too ridiculous, completely inappropriate, terrible and uncomfortable. However, over the years, it has given way to rave reviews.
Frank Lloyd Wright did not live several months before the final completion of his most apotheotic object. For a wide range of visitors, the new building opened its doors in 1959.
In the early 1990s, the facility was reconstructed and expanded with the construction of an additional tower. She was included by Wright in his project, but remained "behind the scenes" for 30 years. In the mid-2000s, a large-scale restoration of the facade was carried out.
Architecture
Outwardly, the snow-white building of a rounded shape resembles an inverted spiral or a pyramidal tower. The interior space is an atrium surrounded by a continuous ramp and covered by a glass dome. Such a layout allows you to see what is happening at different levels of the opposite side, and if you wish, even communicate at a distance (but only in sign language!). The architect came up with the idea of constructing a spiral ascent without supporting columns under the impression of the famous Vatican Moma staircase.
The structural forms of the structure are organic and plastic. They flow freely into each other. Wright explained that the symbolic meaning of his creation is infinity (circle), progress (spiral), structural unity (triangle) and wholeness (square). All this, according to the architect, is somehow related to human feelings, mood and creativity.
As conceived by the author of the project, the viewing of the expositions was to begin from above, where visitors could take the elevator. To get acquainted with the permanent and temporary collections, they had to go down a gentle slope. Unfortunately, this idea of the architect remained without attention.
Next to the described object is the Metropolitan Museum, which is definitely worth a visit.
Branches of the Guggenheim Museum
The foundation is working to create a global network of contemporary art museums. It currently has four Guggenheim Museums:
- in NYC;
- in Venice (Italy) - founded in 1951;
- in Bilbao (Spain) - opened in 1997;
- in Berlin - opened in 1997.
Previously operating branches in the SoHo area (Manhattan) and in Las Vegas were closed in 2002 and 2008. Museum buildings are being built in Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Guadalajara (Mexico). The plans include Vilnius (Lithuania), Helsinki (Finland), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Singapore and Hong Kong.
Working hours
The Guggenheim Museum in New York is open daily from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm. In Tue. and Sat. Opening hours extended until 20:00. Ticket offices close half an hour earlier.
The store can be visited daily from 09:30 to 18:00. In Tue. and Sat. - until 20:30.
Cafe 3 is open from 10:30 to 17:00, Tue. and Sat. - until 19:30. Its panoramic windows allow you to enjoy the views of the Central Park.
The Wright Bistro Restaurant serves American cuisine. Its doors are open Mon-Fri. from 11:30 to 15:30, and on Sat. and Sun. – from 11:00 to 15:00.
Ticket prices
Cost of visiting the Guggenheim Museum in New York:
- for adults - $ 25;
- for students and people over 65 - $ 18;
- for children under 12 years old - free of charge.
On Saturdays from 17:00 to 20:00, the museum holds a "free fee" promotion. At this time, the cost of entry is regulated by the visitors themselves. However, there is a recommended amount - $ 10. Payment for the promotion is made only in cash.
Tickets for the Solomon Guggenheim Museum of Contemporary Art
How to get to the Guggenheim Museum in New York
In 10-15 minutes walk there are subway stations with the same name "86th Street". They are located on opposite sides of Fifth Avenue:
- on Lexington Ave (east) - lines 4, 5, 6;
- to Central Park West (west) - lines A, B, C.
Almost opposite the main entrance to the museum there is a stop "5 avenue / 90 street". It can be reached by buses M1, M2, M3, M4. The same routes follow to the Madison Avenue / 89 Street stop, located on the street parallel to Fifth Avenue, a 3-minute walk from the Solomon Guggenheim Museum.
New York has mobile taxi apps like Lyft, Uber, Via, Gett, Arro, Waave, etc.
