Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

New York, United States

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum located at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan. It is the permanent home of a continuously expanding collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions throughout the year. The museum was established by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1939 as the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, under the guidance of its first director, Hilla von Rebay. It adopted its current name in 1952, three years after the death of its founder Solomon R. Guggenheim.

In 1959, the museum moved from rented space to its current building, a landmark work of 20th-century architecture designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The cylindrical building, wider at the top than at the bottom, was conceived as a 'temple of the spirit'. Its unique ramp gallery extends up from ground level in a long, continuous spiral along the outer edges of the building to end just under the ceiling skylight. The building underwent extensive expansion and renovations in 1992 when an adjoining tower was built, and from 2005 to 2008.

The museum's collection has grown over eight decades and is founded upon several important private collections, beginning with that of Solomon R. Guggenheim. The collection is shared with sister museums in Bilbao, Spain and elsewhere. In 2013, nearly 1.2 million people visited the museum, and it hosted the most popular exhibition in New York City.

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Details

Founded: 1937
Category: Museums in United States

Rating

4.3/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Anna Kayushnikova (2 years ago)
I used my cool culture card for a free admission and I was aware about the restrictions, that most of the levels were not available, so I wasn't disappointed. But it is not nice when there's more staff than visitors and they watch every step of yours and you have to go through several checkpoints like entering the White house and the atmosphere is very non-friendly. Otherwise the arts are good and the names are impressive
Maria Iliakova (2 years ago)
So much to see and love here every time. Their exhibit 'off the record' is a powerful exploration of what gets recorded and what impact that has on race perceptions, safety, justice, and overall people relating to one another. Interesting audio/visual piece in the main hall provided a haunting background to the entire visit. Come immerse yourself!
Elijha (2 years ago)
Beautiful museum. Drawing the line between old-fashioned and modern days art. Beautiful sketches and marvelous tech are embedded in each other. Enjoyed my time here and yet didn't even get to witness all of the exhibits. Would love to jump by this magnificent place again sometime soon. Thanks for the experience
Sharlene Turner (2 years ago)
Heads up! I usually love the “Gug” museum with artists Pollock, Picasso, Kandinsky and 7,000 pieces of art. Not this time. The current exhibit is a video with a huge screen you can see from multiple floors. The limited art work is displayed on only two floors and then the rest of the museum displays blank walls with a red light. I look forward to when the museum is back to a full display of the best of the best art.
Unzihektakiya “Unzi” Ogle (2 years ago)
The spiral roundness of the Guggenheim is quite fun, you really should be allowed to bring a skateboard into this place! Frank Lloyd Wright would approve I feel, and he designed it! The building has a surreal suitability for showing modern art. It is big and open but curled and curiously intriguing. In most museums one feels so much their square rectangularity. This makes the powerful roundness of the Guggenheim a refreshing reorientation and a stunning original experience!
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The initial Ozieri structure was abandoned or destroyed around 3000 BC, with traces of fire found in the archeological evidence. Around 2800 BC the remains of the original structure were completely covered with a layered mixture of earth and stone, and large blocks of limestone were then applied to establish a second platform, truncated by a step pyramid (36 m × 29 m, about 10 m in height), accessible by means of a second ramp, 42 m long, built over the older one. This second temple resembles contemporary Mesopotamian ziggurats, and is attributed to the Abealzu-Filigosa culture.

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The site appears to have been abandoned again around 1800 BC, at the onset of the Nuragic age.

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