|
Why the
Guggenheim Museum
is special
The Guggenheim Museum was designed to showcase modern art. Today, its striking
architecture is just as renowned as its art collection.
Guggenheim Museum
tips & insights
 It
was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the great modern architects.
Although
the Guggenheim was commissioned in 1943, it wasn't finished until 16 years
later, in 1959, because of contentious issues with city officials, among other
powerful people.
Wright
died just months before it finally opened.
The
Guggenheim Museum specializes in modern art from the late 19th century to the
present.
The
artist list reads like a who's who of modernists: Calder, Cezanne, Chagall,
Ernst, Giacometti, Kandinsky, Klee, Leger, Matisse, Miro, Mondrian, Moore,
Picasso, Van Gogh, to name a few.
The
bands of the circular exterior widen as they rise (see photo).
The
interior's most distinctive feature is a six-story atrium encircled by an upward
spiraling ramp. That walkway's inner side has a dramatic open view of the
atrium. The outer side is a wall where the paintings are hung.
You
can usually tell a newbie from an experienced visitor. The
former walks up the sloping six-story ramp and takes the elevator down. The latter
does the opposite, eliminating the uphill climb, as Wright intended.
There
are also exhibition spaces in small rooms accessible from various places along the
ramp. And, the modern 10-story rectangular edifice behind the original building
houses art galleries.
The
museum has permanent collections and stages two or three temporary special
exhibitions per year. It's the latter that creates the most buzz and attracts
the most visitors.
The
major special exhibitions are almost always held in the atrium-ramp section. The
permanent collections primarily use the spaces in side rooms and in the 10-story
tower.
Check
beforehand whether the museum is in the midst of changing exhibitions in the
ramp section. If yes, some or all the rampway may be closed. And, there is the
issue of construction noise.
The
museum has been controversial ever since it was conceived about a half century
ago. Some members of the art world have lavishly praised it while others have
pooh-poohed its design and collections. You be the judge.
 
American cuisine
 
 
 
 
|
