Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York

Frank Lloyd Wright • Architecture, 1959
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About the artwork
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Art form: Architecture
Style of art: Constructivism
Date of creation: 1959
Location: USA
Artwork in selections: 2 selections

Description of the artwork «Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York»

In June 1943, 76-year-old Frank Lloyd Wright received a letter from Hilla Rebay, the art advisor to the industrialist and philanthropist Solomon R. Guggenheim. She asked the architect to design a new museum to house her patron's collection of abstract works such artists as Wassily KandinskyPaul Klee and Pete Mondrian. The customer wanted the building to be unlike any other gallery in the world.

Rebay wanted the museum to become the temple of the soul that would allow to view the modern art from e new perspective. “Each of these great masterpieces must be organized in space, and you are the only one [...] to have proven your ability to do so. I want a temple of the spirit, a monument!” she wrote to Wright. Although he had already become famous as a prominent American architect of the 20th century, this proposal was another takeoff point in his career.

Guggenheim chose New York to host his space, and Wright did not hide his disappointment with this decision. “I can suggest several more attractive places in the world for the construction of his great museum,” the architect wrote in 1949. “However, we’ll have to try New York.” Wright considered the city too built-up, overpopulated and devoid of architectural merit. Nevertheless, he fulfilled the client’s wishes.

He made about 700 sketches and six separate working drawing sets before the project was approved. Wright’s original concept was called the Inverted Ziggurat, because it resembled the steep steps of ancient Mesopotamia. The plan for the new space did not suppose the traditional museum design, which required visitors to pass through a series of interconnected halls. Instead, the architect decided that the guests would take the elevator to the top floor, slowly descend the gentle slope, examining the paintings, and then see the building’s atrium as the last piece of art. The open rotunda provided viewers with a unique opportunity to see several fragments of the exhibition at different levels simultaneously.

After a long search for a suitable location, it was decided to build a museum on Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Streets. The site’s proximity to Central Park was a key argument, as it freed from the hustle and bustle of the city, and also allowed Wright to incorporate his favourite organic forms into architecture. The urban landscape required the architect to design the building in a vertical rather than horizontal shape, which was very different from his previous country houses. However, Wright’s design also reflects his view of the modernist architecture rigid geometry.

The architect attached a symbolic meaning to the shape of the building. He explained: “These geometric shapes suppose certain human ideas, moods, feelings. For example, circle is infinity; triangle is structural unity; spiral is organic progress; square is integrity.” The shapes reflect each other everywhere; for example, the oval columns echo the geometry of the fountain. Roundness is the leitmotif, from the rotunda to the terrazzo tiled floors. Some experts believe that the double spiral staircase, which was designed by Giuseppe Momo in 1932 in the Vatican Museums, was the inspiration for Wright’s ramp and atrium.

The façade of the building was made of concrete in order to save money, although Wright built it of stone painted red. The small rotunda (or Monitor) next to the large rotunda was intended to house the apartments of Hilla Rebay and Solomon Guggenheim, but it was given over to offices and storage instead. In 1965, the second floor of the Monitor was renovated to showcase the ever-growing collection, and after the restoration of the museum in 1990-1992, the building was completely turned into exhibition areas and named after Tannhauser, a major collector who bequeathed his collection to the museum.

Wright’s original plan to house artists’ studios and apartments in the adjoining tower remained unfulfilled, largely for financial reasons. The new museum also had its skylight closed, giving up on Wright’s elaborate lighting effects. It was restored to its original form only in 1992.

From the street, the museum looks like a white ribbon wrapped around a cone expanding upward. Its exterior is in stark contrast to the typical rectangular Manhattan buildings around. This pleased Wright, who argued that the Metropolitan Museum would look “like a Protestant barn” next to his brainchild.

Even before its opening, the museum divided architecture critics into two rival camps. Some argued that the building itself would beat hollow the works which are stored in it. “On the contrary, the design makes building and painting a continuous beautiful symphony, which has never been in the art world before,” the architect replied. Others, including many artists, felt that their painting would not be possible to be hung correctly in the shallow, concave, windowless exhibition niches surrounding the central spiral. Before the opening of the museum, twenty-one artists signed a letter to express their protest against the display of their work in such a space.

Nevertheless, on 21 October 1959, ten years after the death of Solomon Guggenheim and six months after the death of Frank Lloyd Wright, the museum opened its doors to the general public for the first time. Its design freed museum architecture from its conservative constraints, set a powerful precedent and inspired many architects.
In August 1990, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum was officially declared a New York City landmark. This is the “youngest” building to receive such recognition.

Over the 60 years of its existence, the building has been restored several times. Between 1990 and 1992, a new wing was added with four additional exhibition galleries and two study floors. In 2008, the museum completed a three-year renovation, preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

In July 2019, the building was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with seven other creations by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Author: Vlad Maslov


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