Solomon Guggenheim Museum painting. solomon guggenheim museum in new york architecture, human creations

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 most outstanding creation of Frank Lloyd Wright is located in the heart of Manhattan, on Fifth Avenue. The unique design and unique beauty of the Guggenheim Museum bear the stamp of architectural genius.

The Guggenheim Museum is the most unusual museum in New York and one of the leading collections of contemporary art in the world. The founder of the museum is philanthropist Solomon Robert Guggenheim.
The Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art in New York dates back to 1937, when the "copper and coal king" and gold miner Solomon Robert Guggenheim, at the age of 58, decided to retire and started collecting art.

The Guggenheim Museum in New York is valuable not only for the works of art exhibited here: the museum building itself invariably arouses the admiration of art connoisseurs and architects from all over the world. Externally, the museum looks like an inverted pyramidal tower. Tourists freeze in front of the Guggenheim Museum in awe. Wright sought to combine architecture with nature and created a building that organically floats to its base, like a clam shell.

Inside, along the walls, a spiral ramp leads, creating a feeling of space open on all sides. The exhibition space starts on the top floor and goes down. Thus, the visitor walking down the ramp has a constantly changing visual perspective, and literally at every step he has the opportunity to look at the exposition from a new point of view. Interior details make up a thoughtful symphony of triangles, ovals, circles and squares. Forms repeat and flow one into another, creating a fantastic environment.

Exhibits of Russian art in the museum

Part of the exhibition "Kandinsky Before Abstraction 1901-1911" at the Guggenheim Museum.

The works of art exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York are known all over the world to this day - as well as the museum created for them by Frank Lloyd Wright.

In 1943, the artist Hilla von Ribay was the personal consultant of Solomon R. Guggenheim, industrial magnate and art collector. It was she who advised the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright to commission the museum project for the huge Guggenheim collection, which was mainly interested in modern art.

In 1943, in a letter to Wright, von Ribay outlined her idea of ​​building a museum for the Guggenheim collection. She wrote: "I need a fighter for free space, a man of taste, a sage ... I need a temple of spirituality, a monument!" At first, Wright was not very interested in this project.

Finally, after much debate and negotiation, Hill von Ribay, Solomon R. Guggenheim and Frank Lloyd Wright came to an agreement: they chose a site on Fifth Avenue, near Central Park. The location next to the park was one of Wright's main conditions. His new museum was supposed to embody the symbiosis of architecture and nature, merge art, architecture and nature into a harmonious union with the bustling life of a big city.

Wright took the time to develop this project, which is why construction began so late, only in 1956 and was completed in 1959. By this time, Solomon Guggenheim and Frank Wright were no longer alive.

One of the most vivid impressions after a recent visit to the city of the Big Apple left a visit to Solomon Guggenheim Museum. The external spiral design of this structure is known throughout the world. The museum was designed in the middle of the 20th century by one of the greatest architects, Frank L. Wright. Work on the project began when Wright was already 80 years old and ended after the architect's 90th birthday.

So then think about the notorious "active twenty", which considers the period of 20-40 years to be the most fruitful age. Even between the ages of 40 and 60, Wright was not distinguished by a creative upsurge, and only when a Montenegrin appeared in his life Olga Lazovic, success, recognition and prosperity came to the architect. To anyone who is interested in the topic, in addition to Wikipedia, which describes in sufficient detail the life story of the great architectural genius, I would like to recommend an excellent film from director Ken Burns.

We return to the museum. spiral shape It looks quite contrasting against the background of traditional buildings with angular architecture, but at the same time it does not contradict the environment, but, on the contrary, creates the completeness of the composition. It’s as if someone put a cup of traditional tea on a bookshelf, because it’s incredibly pleasant sometimes to forget yourself with this steaming drink in one hand and an interesting book in the other. And no less exciting sensations are the world of contemporary art, which can be reached by taking just one step from the perpendicular-parallel streets of New York. By the way, in the souvenir department you can find a huge assortment of these very spiral mugs.

As soon as you cross the threshold, a dramatic change of scenery suddenly takes place. Countless world names, including Noguchi, Rothko, Pollock and other modernist classics, are represented here by their most famous sculptures and paintings.

One of the most "modest" collections belongs to my favorite impressionists. The exhibition, to which I gave my heart this time, was dedicated to the work of the Russian painter and art theorist Wassily Kandinsky.

I never considered myself a fan of his, but when I saw the works live and in full, I was simply amazed! So, the Solomon Guggenheim Museum contributed to my enlightenment :).

I cannot ignore the souvenir department in the museum, or rather its services and goods. Firstly, I really liked the opportunity to print a copy of any exhibit of your choice, I think all museums should take this technique into service. The second thing that aroused insane delight in me was Guggenheim souvenirs, selected in such a way as to be not only a beautiful reminder of the trip, but also to develop a sense of beauty. Suspended cars, which are also photo pendants, sway with the slightest breeze and change images, children's spinning tops that draw amazing spirals. It seems to me that here I found the most ingenious souvenirs I have ever seen.

And finally, a little about the amazing architecture. The museum, in addition to containing amazing collections of contemporary art, is itself an exhibit. I think that I will be right in expressing my thoughts about the genius of the architect, who was able to answer several important questions:

How to make a building that would contribute to the self-development of a person, strengthen his aspirations, and all this would take place in an atmosphere of modernist creativity?

What will make visitors throw aside their mental shell and appreciate the unconventional approach to beauty and creativity?

How to transform our life so that it becomes like a work of art, and not like a boring routine?

The architect flawlessly answered all these questions without resorting to a single word. And the spiral symbol of continuous development contributes to the natural and harmonious solution of all tasks. By the way, children here do not feel bored at all, as is usually the case in museums - if not a great many paintings, then running around spiral staircases will definitely captivate them :).

Literally every detail of the museum pleases the eye, and its creative content stimulates the imagination, so I recommend it for a mandatory visit!

Modern Spanish architecture is a unique phenomenon in world culture. Amazing futuristic buildings here peacefully coexist with classical buildings of past centuries, creating a unique effect of merging the past and the future.
This is how the quiet, and until recently, the unremarkable city of Bilbao appears before its guests. Fame came to him in the late 90s, when one of the most amazing museums of the Old World was built in the heart of the city, on the banks of the Nervion River - the famous Guggenheim Museum, completely dedicated to contemporary art. Since then, Bilbao has become a kind of Mecca for progressive and daring artists from all over the world. At the same time, bizarre installations began to appear on the streets of the capital of the Basque Country, diluting and enlivening with their unexpected forms the strict but featureless architecture of the provincial town.
However, the main attraction of Bilbao is the Museum, acquaintance with which is necessarily included in any tourist program. You may not understand or accept contemporary art, but a visit to the Guggenheim Museum is not just an excursion, but a curious philosophical attraction that allows you to take a fresh look at familiar things and the space around them.

Museum outside

The museum got its name in honor of the famous American philanthropist and connoisseur of the latest art trends Solomon Robert Guggenheim. The entrepreneur opened the first exposition in 1937 in New York. The Spanish Museum of Modern Art was opened exactly 60 years later, so it can be called a branch of overseas.
Spain was also chosen not by chance. The country, so popular among tourists, provides the museum with an endless stream of visitors. And although the museum in Bilbao occupies only the second position in terms of status, it has become famous all over the world for its appearance.

The strange deconstructivist building is a unique creation by Frank Gehry, a whimsical jumble of curved metal structures that dazzlingly sparkle in the bright sun. When viewed from above, it resembles an opening flower of some unearthly plant, spreading its petals in all directions (although some believe that it looks like an artichoke, but everyone has their own taste).

The titanium coating of all exterior surfaces and their intricate curves capture the light, making the building glow from the inside even in cloudy weather. And with the flickering light of night lights - it is an amazing sight and looks like a big alien ship.

However, the creators of the museum did not think that spectacular architecture was enough, so it was additionally surrounded by curious installations. So, from time to time, the building suddenly begins to envelop a light foggy haze that seems to arise right above the water. But the point here is not in nature, but in the original project of the artist Fujiku Nakaya, invented specifically for the museum in Bilbao. In fact, special devices are installed around the entire perimeter of the foundation to create the purest water vapor, which creates the illusion of fog beautifully creeping over the waters of Nervion.

In addition, the museum building is surrounded on all sides by fountains, but of course, they are also not simple. Their jets often and unpredictably change their direction, creating the illusion of some kind of chaos, which, combined with constantly sounding unusual music, gives a stunning effect. To anyone who stops to admire this picture, it begins to seem that they have suddenly been transported to another planet. And with the onset of darkness, the water fountains turn off, and fiery ones take their place ...

It seems that the largest exhibit of the Spanish Museum of Modern Art is the building of this museum.

sculptures

After admiring the building of the Guggenheim Museum from afar, it is worth getting closer to it. In addition to those described above, around the building you can see some very interesting sculptures and installations.

Like any self-respecting house, the Guggenheim Museum has its guard dog, but not quite the usual one. Firstly, this is not an adult dog, but a terrier puppy. Secondly, it has impressive dimensions - 13 meters in height. And thirdly, he, of course, is a sculpture, and made of flowers. This charming Flower Puppy was created by the American artist Koons and has long earned the sympathy of all employees and visitors of the museum. He is really charming, and the work of gardeners who carefully monitor his flower skin deserves special admiration. The terrier changes its color depending on the season. In winter, it is simply green, and the rest of the time its coat is covered with bright colors. When one blooms, others immediately bloom in their place.

A little further, right next to a beautiful curved footbridge, there is a sculpture of another representative of the animal world. This is the famous Maman - a giant sculpture of the Black Widow spider. The titanic dimensions of the statue make any person feel tiny and insignificant next to her. In the spider's basket you can see a whole clutch of glass eggs, and by this she seems to remind people that people like her are quite capable of conquering the world, and which of us is the crown of creation is a rather moot point.

More peaceful, but no less impressive, are two more installations. A bouquet of sparkling multi-colored tulips that seem to be inflatable, but are actually made of the thinnest sheets of steel and an elegant garland of metal balls, as if growing right out of the water.

Interior space and exhibition

Inside the Guggenheim Museum looks no less strange than outside. There are almost no traditional rectangular rooms here, everything consists of broken lines and diagonals, crossing space in an arbitrary and chaotic manner.
In the center of the building there is a high atrium, from which, like flower petals, numerous halls extend.

The permanent exhibition is located at the very top, in the premises of the third floor. Each of the halls presents a separate direction of contemporary art to the viewer's judgment. Here are collections of works by the best artists who worked in the style of abstractionism, cubism, futurism or surrealism. The location of the exhibits allows you to completely immerse yourself in the bizarre world of masterpieces by Picasso, Dali or Kandinsky, and try to understand their strange philosophy and peculiar view of the world.

The halls on the second floor are designed for temporary exhibitions, so it is not possible to predict how the next exposition will surprise the audience. It demonstrates not only painting, but also sculpture, plastic, and often original installations created from the most unexpected materials.
The entire central gallery on the first floor is occupied by the very popular composition "The Matter of Time", created by the famous American sculptor Richard Serra. This grandiose project consists of several intricately curved sheets of durable ship steel, which, twisting into spirals and ellipses, form a strange labyrinth. You can endlessly wander among these iron walls, studying how the space narrows and expands, directing a person either to a dead end and hopelessness, or to open doors and the possibility of further choice of path...

Philosophizing at the Guggenheim Museum is endless. Its creators believe that by studying unusual exhibits, each visitor will be able to discover new facets of consciousness in order to better understand themselves and the world around them in its most unpredictable manifestations.

It began its existence almost a century ago. The first mentions date back to the first half of the 20th century. Robert Guggenheim was a major gold miner and magnate. Moving away from financial and commercial affairs, he became a philanthropist, created a foundation and gave it his name.

About the founder

Guggenheim was not considered a great specialist in the field of sculpture and painting. However, this did not prevent him from being a connoisseur of beauty. For the Guggenheim, the Museum became one of the most important projects of his life. To select the first exhibits, the founder invited the famous German baroness, art critic and artist Hilla Ribay von Enrheinweissen. At that time, the first museums in New York began to appear.

Create a vault

In 1939, the first Guggenheim collection appeared. The museum then occupied a small area. The collection is located in Manhattan. However, the number of exhibits quickly began to increase, so it was necessary to expand the area. For the construction of new premises in 1943, the famous Frank Wright was appointed chief architect. The construction of new premises was completed by 1959. By this time, neither Wright himself nor Guggenheim was alive. The museum was later completely renovated. In 1992, additional elements provided for in the project were completed. The building ended up looking like it does now.

Modernity

Today, Fifth Avenue in New York, between 88th and 89th streets, houses one of the most outstanding architectural masterpieces of the 20th century. The futuristic building is made in the form of an inverted tower. Visitors take the elevator to the topmost tier and, examining the exhibits, descend in a spiral. To date, the Guggenheim collection (the Museum has more than 6,000 exhibits), in the development of the concept of which, together with Baroness von Ribay, such artists as Bauer, Kandinsky, Nebel participated, is considered the world's largest collection of classical modernism. Among the exhibits there are works by Picasso, Miro, Beuys, Rauschenberg, Kandinsky, Rothko, Mark and other outstanding masters. The Guggenheim Museum (New York) also presents the famous collections of Hilda and Justin Tannhauser, consisting of works of early modernism, post-impressionism, as well as sculpture and painting by Catherine Dreyer (early avant-garde).

Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao, Spain)

This is one of the branches of the famous repository. The museum is located on the banks of the river. Nervion. This branch is famous for the most amazing collection of contemporary art. However, the building itself can be called a masterpiece. It is a truly unique and amazing building.

Appearance

The museum building itself is covered with titanium thin plates. They look like fish scales. Periodically, the plates intersect with glass elements. All lines are smooth, and the forms are plastic. One circuit flows into another. The whole ensemble has a height of 50 meters and is filled with various reservoirs. The building itself looks like a huge sculpture against the background of the usual. Two giant sculptures are installed in front of the museum. One of them is a huge metal spider. The author of this sculpture - On the terrace there is another figure 13 meters high - a flower terrier by artist J. Koons.

Architecture

The building itself, which houses the museum, was designed by an American-Canadian master. Visits have been possible since 1997. The construction of the museum almost immediately received the status of the most spectacular building in the style of deconstructivism in the world. The building embodies the abstract idea of ​​a futuristic ship that could be used to travel to other planets. Sometimes the building is compared with a blossoming rose, artichoke, airplane, bird, and even Superman. The central part has a height of about 55 meters. It resembles a huge metal flower. Petals come off of it. They house a suite of exhibition spaces for various expositions.

Exhibitions

From the beginning of July to the end of August (during the peak tourist season), the museum is open from 10 am to 8 pm on all days of the week. In other seasons, Monday is a day off. The ticket price is 11 euros. Children can visit the museum for free. The museum in Bilbao receives about a million visitors every year. The exhibition presents works of postmodernism, as well as the modernist era. The collection contains a huge number of works. In fact, not a single direction of the 20th century was left without attention. At the same time, it must be said that the museum presents not only the actual paintings and sculptures. Here you can see a large number of electronic panels, installations and other wonders of modern art.

Exposition features

The exhibitions in the museum are constantly changing. But at the same time, it is possible to conditionally divide the building into halls according to themes. So, for example, you can highlight the premises where the works of abstractionists and futurists are presented, headed by the creations of Kandinsky. There is a hall of surrealism. Here you can see Picasso's masterpieces presented in the Cubism Hall. Here you can also look at the famous M. Monroe prints made by Warhol. Sculptures by Richard Seri deserve special attention. They are made of special weather-resistant steel. The collection is called "The Essence of Time". This original collection is a series of abstract works of artistic and philosophical nature, a kind of "non-objective space". The main exposition of the museum presents a work made by the founder of the field "Mark Rothko. He is a prominent representative. It should, by the way, be said that Rothko's works beat all price records at the largest auctions. Presented in the museum and collages of the famous His works are rich, full; they make analyze and think.