The Guggenheim

In Bilbao, Spain

History

• Construction for the Guggenheim Museum started in 1994

• Frank Gehry designed the Guggenheim museum and it opened on October 19, 1997

Today• Celebrated the 10th anniversary on October

19, 2007• Devotes exhibitions to extraordinary painters

of past and present• “… the greatest building of our time.” – Philip

Johnson, architect

Collection• Collection of art spans from the mid-twentieth century to the

present day• Some of the most significant artists of the second half of the

twentieth century, including Anselm Kiefer, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, James Rosenquist, Clyfford Still, Cy Twombly, and Andy Warhol

• Major acquisitions include Joseph Beuys’s Lightning with Stag in Its Glare (1958–85); Jeff Koons’s Puppy (1992), now iconic in its position in the museum plaza; Mark Rothko’s Untitled (1952–53); and Robert Rauschenberg’s Barge (1962–63)

• Bilbao’s holdings include work by modern and contemporary Basque and Spanish artists, including Eduardo Chillida, Cristina Iglesias, Juan Muñoz, Jorge Oteiza, Antonio Saura, and Antoni Tàpies.

Structure and Inside

• A spectacular structure made of titanium, glass, and limestone

• The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a collection of interconnected blocks housing galleries, an auditorium, a restaurant, a museum store and administrative offices

• Daylight floods in through the glass walls and the skylight set high up in the dome. Leading off from this central space, a system of curved walkways, glass lifts and stairways connect 19 galleries that combine classical, rectangular spaces with others of unusual proportions and forms.

Exhibitions • Features exhibitions organized by the Guggenheim Foundation and

by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, as well as selections from the permanent collection of the Guggenheim Museums.

• Henri RouseauMay 24–September 12, 2010 On the centenary of Henri Rousseau’s death, has devoted an exhibition to this extraordinary French painter.

• Anish KapoorMarch 16–October 12, 2010 The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao presented a major solo exhibition devoted to the art of Anish Kapoor, one of the most influential sculptors working today

Location

• Located on the northern coast of Spain, in Basque country

• Built in Bilbao, Spain• Built by Ferrovial, which stands alongside the

Nervion River, which runs through the centre of the city.

Why was it built?• It was recognized as a decisive factor in making the project

the international landmark of artistic excellence it was designed to be.

• The approach to the reason behind the Guggenheim continued the tradition begun by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation when it commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design the original museum on New York’s Fifth Avenue.

• Frank O. Gehry was entrusted with the task of designing the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, largely because his conceptions reflected the project's enormous potential by integrating the building into the fabric of the city of Bilbao and into its ongoing urban regeneration plan.

• The mission of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is to collect, preserve, research and present works of modern and contemporary art in all its forms

Awards Received

• 2001 Outstanding Structure Award of IABSE (International Association for Building and Structural Engineering) The Award recognizes the most remarkable, innovative, creative or otherwise stimulating structures completed within the last few years or completed by the award ceremony

• “Awarded the Best Design of 1997 by Time Magazine “ • “Awarded Cambio 16 Award in the art section”• “Awarded Correo 97, “Promoción de Euskadi” Award

Some of its Best

• Outside of the Guggenheim there is a giant statue of a puppy which is covered in layers of flowers. Hundreds crowd round the statue each day.

• The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao celebrates the memory of Robert Rauschenberg by putting up many of his great arts with the exhibition Robert Rauschenberg: Gluts. Comprised of approximately forty works, this exhibition, on view February 12 through September 2, 2010

How it Shapes life in Bilbao, Spain Today

• Within the first years of the museum opening hundreds of thousands of tourist began to pour into the city just to see the Guggenheim

• Bilbao was changed forever as the obvious knock on effects of hotels opening, the airport expanding, upgrading of all facilities, extra employment etc. Today the advances continue as Bilbao continues to strive to make itself a tourist friendly destination.

References

• http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao• http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao/collectio

n• http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao/history• http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao/about• http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao/exhibitio

ns• http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/bilbao/gugge

nheim.htm• http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/museums/g

uggenheim-bilbao.htm• http://www.bm30.es/homegug_uk.html• http://www.iabse.org/association/awards/ost

rac/guggmus.php