The "Museum of Abstract Painting"

The foundation's first art exhibition venue, the "Museum of Abstract Painting", opened in 1939 under Rebay's direction, in Midtown Manhattan. With Rebay's support, Guggenheim sought to include in the collection the most prominent examples of abstract art available at the time, as well as works of early contemporary art by artists such as Rudolf Bauer, Rebay, Piet Mondrian, Marc Chagall, Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger, Amedeo Modigliani and Pablo Picasso.[2][3][5]​.

By the early 1940s, the foundation had already amassed a large collection of avant-garde works, where the need for a permanent building was evident. It was not until 1943 that Rebay and Guggenheim wrote a letter to architect Frank Lloyd Wright, asking him to design a building to house and display the collection. Wright accepted the opportunity to experiment with his characteristic organic style in the urban environment. For the creation of the museum, Wright made around 700 sketches and 6 sets of drawings over a period of 15 years for his architectural creation.[7]​.

In 1948, the collection increased considerably after the purchase of the estate of art dealer Karl Nierendorf, consisting of some 730 works of art, most of them German Expressionist paintings. By then, the foundation's collection included a wide spectrum of expressionist and surrealist works, with works by Paul Klee, Oskar Kokoschka and Joan Miró among others. Shortly after the death of Solomon R. Guggenheim in 1949, members of the Guggenheim family, who also served on the foundation's board of directors, had philosophical and personal differences with Rebay, and in late 1952, Hilla von Rebay resigned as director of the museum.[9] Despite this, Rebay, in her will, bequeathed pieces from her personal collection to the foundation; including works by Kandinsky, Klee, Alexander Calder, Albert Gleizes, Mondrian and Kurt Schwitters.[8] The museum was renamed the "Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum" in 1952.[9]

Building design and construction

Rebay and Wright conceived the building as a "temple of the spirit," a space that would provide a new way to admire the modern art pieces in the collection. In his letter, Rebay wrote to Wright that "each of the masterpieces in the collection should be organized in space, and only you... will be able to find the possibility of doing so... I want a temple of the spirit, a monument."[10][11] Critic Paul Goldberger noted, before Wright completed his modernist building, that "there were only two common designs for museums: the Beaux Arts (architecture)") and the International style."[12] Goldberger considered the building as a catalyst for change, noting that it was "socially and culturally acceptable for an architect, a highly expressive and intensely personal museum design. In that sense, each of the museums of our time are children of the Guggenheim."[12]

From 1943 to early 1944, Wright produced 4 different sketches for the museum's initial design. One of the plans (sketch C) illustrated the building in a hexagonal shape, with lower levels for the galleries; while the others were circular in shape, and used a continuous ramp that rose along the length of the building. Wright's original concept was called the "ziggurat", as the design resembled the steep stairs of ziggurats built in ancient Mesopotamia.[13] Construction of the building was carried out according to Wright's sketch, in which visitors are guided through a series of connecting rooms, and are forced to return up the stairs upon exiting.[14] Wright planned for museum visitors to reach the top of the building by elevator, and that They descended at a leisurely pace through the gentle slope of the continuous ramp, so that they saw the building's atrium as the final piece of art in the exhibition. The open rotunda provides viewers with the unique ability to view multiple work bays simultaneously, and to interact with other museum guests on different levels of the building.[15]​.

At the same time, before siting the building on the corner of 89th Street and Fifth Avenue, Rebay, Wright and Guggenheim considered other locations in Manhattan, Central Park, as well as the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx.[16] Guggenheim considered the museum's proximity to Central Park to be important; since the park would provide relief from the noise, congestion and other bustle caused by the city.[13]​ In addition, the nature of the park would give a feeling of inspiration to the museum.[16]​ The building would embody an attempt by Wright to "render plasticity inherent to the organic forms of architecture."[14]​ Well, the museum would be the only one designed by the architect. The final location required that Wright design the building vertically, and not in a horizontal way as in some of his sketches, very different from the work that Wright had done in his beginnings.[13]​.

The spiral design resembled the shell of a Nautilus, with continuous spaces flowing freely into each other.[17] Even as the building embraced nature, Wright's design also expressed his take on the rigid geometry of modern architecture.[17] Wright designated symbolic meaning to the building's forms; adding that "geometric shapes suggest certain human ideas, moods and feelings - for example: the circle, infinity; the triangle, structural unity; the spiral, organic process; the square, integrity."[18] These shapes echo each other: oval columns, for example, withdraw the structural geometry of the source. The circularity of the figures is the leitmotiv (central motif), from the rotunda to the design embedded in the terrace floors.[16]​.

The surface of the building was made of cement to reduce its cost, much lower than the stone finish that Wright had planned.[19] Wright also proposed that the exterior be red, which was never carried out.[20] The small rotunda, or "monitoring building" as Wright called it, located next to the largest rotunda of the building, was initially conceived to house apartments for Hilla von Rebay and Solomon R. Guggenheim; instead, this space was used to house offices and warehouses.[21] In 1965, the second floor of the "monitoring building" was renovated to display the museum's ever-growing collection, and, with the museum's restoration between 1990 and 1992, it was converted entirely to exhibition space, named the "Thannhauser building", in honor of one of the Foundation's most important donors.[22] Wright's original plan to erect an additional tower, apartments, and art studios, was never undertaken, largely for funding reasons, until the renovation and expansion of the building a few decades later.[15][23] Furthermore, in the original construction, the main skylight-gallery had been covered, which compromised the lighting effects that Wright had articulated in his plans. This changed in 1992, when the skylight was restored to its original design.[19]​.

Sweeney and completion of construction

In 1953, the Foundation's collection criteria expanded under the direction of James Johnson Sweeney, the museum's new director. Sweeney disapproved of Hilla von Rebay's rejection of "objective" paintings and sculptures in the collection. He soon acquired the work "Adam and Eve" (1921) by Constantin Brâncuși, followed by other works by modernist sculptors, including Joseph Csaky, Jean Arp, Calder, Alberto Giacometti and David Smith. Sweeney went beyond the century to acquire the work Man with Crossed Arms (1899) by Paul Cézanne. 28 pieces of art, property of Katherine S. Dreier, founder of the first American collection to be recognized as a Museum of Modern Art, the Société Anonyme. Diere had been a friend of Rebay. The works included, among others, the works: Little French Girl (1914-18) by Brâncuși, "Untitled still life" (1916) by Juan Gris, a bronze sculpture (1919) by Alexander Archipenko, and 3 collages (1919-21) by German Hanoverian Dadaist Schwitters. It also included works by Calder, Marcel Duchamp, El Lissitzky and Mondrian.[8] Sweeney also included works by abstract impressionist artists such as Alberto Giacometti, David Hayes, Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock.[24]

Sweeney observed at least the last 6 years of the building's construction, a time in which he had an antagonistic relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright, and disputes among which the building's lighting stands out.[25]​[26]​ The distinctive cylindrical building would be the last major work designed and directed by Wright, as the latter would die six months before its opening.[27]​ From the street, the building looks like a white bow, curved on a cylindrical stack, wider in its level higher than lower, exhibiting curved surfaces on all sides. Its appearance makes a stark contrast to the typical geometric and rectangular Manhattan buildings that surround it, a fact envisaged by Wright, who claimed that his museum would make the Metropolitan Museum of Art look like a "Protestant barn".[27] Internally, the gallery forms a helical spiral ramp "Helix (geometry)"), gently climbing from ground level to the skylight at the top.[27]

Criticism and opening of the museum

Even before its opening, the museum was criticized for its architectural design.[27]​[28]​ Some critics believed that the building would overshadow the art pieces displayed in the museum.[6]​[29]​[30]​ "On the contrary... the building and the artwork create a beautiful uninterrupted symphony that has never existed in the art world before," Wright wrote.[29]​ Other critics, and many artists, felt it was uncomfortable and It was inappropriate to hang the paintings in the shade, that the building had no windows, and that the concave display surrounded the central spiral. Shortly before the museum opened, 21 artists signed a letter asking that their work be displayed on the site. Historian Lewis Mumford added to the opprobrium, noting:

On October 21, 1959, 10 years after the death of Solomon R. Guggenheim, and six months after the death of Frank Lloyd Wright, the Museum opened its doors to large crowds.[32][33]​ The building was widely acclaimed,[34][35]​ and was a source of inspiration for many other architects.[13]​.

Messer years

Thomas M. Messer succeeded Sweeney as director of the Museum, but not as director of the Foundation, since 1961, and remained there for 27 years, longer than any other director of a major art institution.[36] When Messer took over, the way the museum presented art remained in doubt, due to the challenges presented by the building's lighting, continuous gallery-ramp, and curved non-vertical walls.[37] he found it difficult to properly hang the paintings in the void of the shallow niches surrounding the center spiral; the canvases rose when mounted on the wall surface. The paintings were tilted as on the "artist's easel." There was limited space for sculpture.[27]​.

Almost immediately, in 1962, Messer took the risk of putting on a large exhibition, combining paintings from the original Guggenheim collection with sculptures borrowed from Hirshhron's collection.[37] The three-dimensional sculptures, in particular, increased the problem of "installing a spectacle in the museum that resembles the circular geometry of hell (Hell (Divine Comedy)")" where any vertical object seemed to be "drunkenly stabbed" down the slope. of the floor, and the curvature of the walls that created "irritating" optical illusions.[38]​ It turned out that the combination could work well in the Guggenheim space, but, Messer mentioned at the time that "I was scared. I had felt that this would be my last exhibition at the museum."[37]​ Messer had the foresight to prepare to organize a smaller exhibition of sculptures the previous year, in which he discovered a way to compensate for the challenging geometry of the space by building bases at a particular angle, so that the pieces were not in a vertical form but appeared to be.[38]​ In the initial sculpture show, this "trick" did not work for one of the pieces on display, a mobile by Alexander Calder, which featured a cable hanging vertically from the sculpture itself, which, once placed on the base, suggested hallucination in the disoriented context of the floor on which it was located.[38]​.

The following year, Messer acquired the private collection of art dealer Justin K. Thanhauser, for the museum's permanent collection. These 73 pieces of art included Impressionist, Post-Impressionist works, and masterpieces by French modernist artists; including works by Paul Gauguin, Edouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, Vincent van Gogh, and 32 works by Pablo Picasso. Tilson Thomas.

Krens, expansion of the Museum and internationalization of the Foundation

Thomas Krens, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation from 1988 to 2008, led the rapid expansion of the museum's collection.[42] In 1991, Krens greatly increased the collection after acquiring the Giuseppe Panza collection. Assembled by him, and by his wife, Giovanna, the collection included examples of minimalist sculptures by artists such as Carl Andre, Dan Flavin and Donald Judd, and minimalist paintings "Minimalism (painting)") by artists such as Robert Mangold, Brice Marden and Robert Ryman; as well as post-minimalist art, conceptual art and perceptual art by artists such as Robert Morris, Richard Serra, James Turrell, Lawrence Weiner and many others, notably works produced between 1960 and 1970.[8]​[43]​ In 1992, the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation gifted 200 of his best photographs to the Foundation; This included works such as collages, Polaroids, celebrity portraits, self-portraits, and photographs with themes such as nudes, flowers, and statues. It also featured mixed media constructions, including Mapplethorpe's famous "Self-portrait" (1998). With this acquisition, the Foundation began its photographic exhibition program.[8]​.

Also in 1992, the space of the museum building was expanded following the construction of an additional tower, erected behind the original building, and larger than the latter; Likewise, there were renovations to the original building.[23]​ The new tower was designed by the architectural firm "Gwathmey Siegel & Associates",[44]​ who analyzed Wright's original sketches to design the 10-story limestone tower, which would provide a much smaller structural footprint. In addition, the tower would house 4 additional display galleries with flat walls "more appropriate for displaying some of the pieces".[15]​[23]​ In the construction of the original building, the main skylight gallery had been covered, which compromised the lighting effects carefully articulated by Wright. This changed in 1992, when the skylight was restored to its original design.[19] By then, the original building was already recognized as an icon of the city, and the construction of the additional tower was somewhat controversial.

To finance such moves, controversially, the Foundation would sell some works by Kandinsky, Chagall and Modigliani for around $47 million, attracting criticism for exchanging works of "masters" for works of "fashionable" stragglers. Critic Michael Kimmelman of the American newspaper The New York Times wrote that the sales "stretched the accepted norms of art collecting, beyond what any other American institution was willing to do."[19][45] Krens defended his decisions as "consistent" with the principles of the Foundation and the Museum, including the international expansion of the collection, and the construction of the postwar collection, to "strengthen our prewar positions"[43] and He noted that sales like the Museum's are regularly practiced by other museums.[45] Simultaneously, he expanded the Foundation's international presence, opening museums in other countries.[46] Krens was also criticized for his characteristic business style, and for the populism and commercialization he received.[47][48] One writer commented that "Krens had been, both acclaimed and criticized, for changing what was previously a small New York institution into a global brand, creating the first real multinational art institution... Krens transformed the Guggenheim into a household name widely known in the world of the arts."[49]​.

Under his stewardship, the Museum mounted some of its most popular exhibitions to date, including "Africa: the Art of the Continent" in 1996; "China: 5,000 Years" in 1998, "Brazil: Body and Soul" in 2001, and "The Aztec Empire" in 2004.[50] He also occasionally showed unusual exhibits, for example a commercial motorcycle art installation. The New Criterion magazine, by Hilton Kramer (originally an art critic for The New York Times), condemned this latest exhibition, titled "The Art of the Motorcycle." 1992.[6]​.

In 2001, the museum opened the Sackler Art Education Center to the public, which would feature another portion of Wright's original design, funded by the family of Mortimer D. Sackler. exhibition, and its classrooms, as well as in the Peter B. Lewis Theater.[52]​ In addition, in 2001, the Foundation was gifted the large collection of the Bohen Foundation, which, for two decades, had acquired new pieces of art, including films, videos, photographs and new media. Some artists included in the collection were Pierre Huyghe, Sophie Calle and Jac Leirner.[2]​.

Museum Restoration

Between September 2005 and July 2008, the Guggenheim underwent an exterior restoration to repair cracks and[53]​ modernize its system as well as details on its exterior.[54]​ In the first phase of the project, a team of restoration architects, structural engineers, and architectural conservators worked together to create a comprehensive assessment of the building's condition to determine a fundamentally safe structure. This assessment included:

• - the removal of the original paint from the surface of the building, thus revealing hundreds of cracks caused by time and temporary weather conditions;[53]​.

• - detailed monitoring of the movement of selected cracks over 17 months;.

• - echo-impact technology, in which sound waves are sent to the cement, and the rebound is measured to locate the gaps between the walls;

• - laser studies on the exterior and interior surfaces, which is believed to have been the laser model ever compiled;

• - drilling of bases, in order to collect samples of the original cement, and other construction materials; and.

• - tests with potential repair materials.[55]​.

Much of the museum's interior was restored during the 1992 renovation and during construction of the additional space by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates architects. The 2005-2008 restoration focused primarily on the exterior and infrastructure of the original building. This included restoration of skylights, windows, doors, cement and twine facades, and exterior sidewalks. In the same way, an internal temperature control was implemented. The goal was to preserve as much of the historic fabrics of the original building as possible, while completing the repairs necessary for the building's continued use as a museum.[56]​.

On September 22, 2008, the Guggenheim celebrated the completion of its restoration (3 years in total). New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg officiated the celebration that would culminate with the premiere of the tribute "For the Guggenheim" by artist Jenny Holzer, a work made in honor of Peter B. Lewis, who would be the largest benefactor of the Museum's restoration project. Other supporters of the Museum's million-dollar restoration included the board of trustees of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, as well as the Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional financial support was provided by the State of New York and the MAPEI company.[57] The museum was registered as a National Historic Landmark on October 6, 2008.[58]

Later years and present

In 2005, Krens won a dispute against billionaire philanthropist Peter Lewis, Chairman of the Foundation's Board of Directors, and the largest contributor to the Foundation in its history. Lewis resigned as chairman of the board, expressing opposition to Krens' idea of ​​expanding the Foundation's museums globally. Additionally, in 2005, Lisa Dennison, a senior Foundation curator, was named director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Dennison resigned in July 2007, to work at the auction house Sotheby's.[60] Simultaneously, the tension between Krens and the Board of Directors continued, it was not until February 2008 that Krens resigned as Director of the Foundation. However, he is still her international affairs tutor.[61]

Richard Armstrong, former director (for 12 years) of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, was appointed as the Museum's 5th director on November 4, 2008.[62] Nancy Spector was named Chief Curator and Deputy Director of the Museum.[63]​.

Additionally, the Foundation's and the Museum's permanent collections grew.[2]​ The Foundation oversees and manages the loan of pieces from the collection for outside exhibitions and co-organizes exhibitions with other museums and foundations to encourage public dissemination of art.[64]​ In 2013, around 1.2 million people visited the museum, and the latter hosted the most popular exhibition in New York City (James Turell).[1]​.

The "Museum of Abstract Painting"

The foundation's first art exhibition venue, the "Museum of Abstract Painting", opened in 1939 under Rebay's direction, in Midtown Manhattan. With Rebay's support, Guggenheim sought to include in the collection the most prominent examples of abstract art available at the time, as well as works of early contemporary art by artists such as Rudolf Bauer, Rebay, Piet Mondrian, Marc Chagall, Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger, Amedeo Modigliani and Pablo Picasso.[2][3][5]​.

By the early 1940s, the foundation had already amassed a large collection of avant-garde works, where the need for a permanent building was evident. It was not until 1943 that Rebay and Guggenheim wrote a letter to architect Frank Lloyd Wright, asking him to design a building to house and display the collection. Wright accepted the opportunity to experiment with his characteristic organic style in the urban environment. For the creation of the museum, Wright made around 700 sketches and 6 sets of drawings over a period of 15 years for his architectural creation.[7]​.

In 1948, the collection increased considerably after the purchase of the estate of art dealer Karl Nierendorf, consisting of some 730 works of art, most of them German Expressionist paintings. By then, the foundation's collection included a wide spectrum of expressionist and surrealist works, with works by Paul Klee, Oskar Kokoschka and Joan Miró among others. Shortly after the death of Solomon R. Guggenheim in 1949, members of the Guggenheim family, who also served on the foundation's board of directors, had philosophical and personal differences with Rebay, and in late 1952, Hilla von Rebay resigned as director of the museum.[9] Despite this, Rebay, in her will, bequeathed pieces from her personal collection to the foundation; including works by Kandinsky, Klee, Alexander Calder, Albert Gleizes, Mondrian and Kurt Schwitters.[8] The museum was renamed the "Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum" in 1952.[9]

Building design and construction

Rebay and Wright conceived the building as a "temple of the spirit," a space that would provide a new way to admire the modern art pieces in the collection. In his letter, Rebay wrote to Wright that "each of the masterpieces in the collection should be organized in space, and only you... will be able to find the possibility of doing so... I want a temple of the spirit, a monument."[10][11] Critic Paul Goldberger noted, before Wright completed his modernist building, that "there were only two common designs for museums: the Beaux Arts (architecture)") and the International style."[12] Goldberger considered the building as a catalyst for change, noting that it was "socially and culturally acceptable for an architect, a highly expressive and intensely personal museum design. In that sense, each of the museums of our time are children of the Guggenheim."[12]

From 1943 to early 1944, Wright produced 4 different sketches for the museum's initial design. One of the plans (sketch C) illustrated the building in a hexagonal shape, with lower levels for the galleries; while the others were circular in shape, and used a continuous ramp that rose along the length of the building. Wright's original concept was called the "ziggurat", as the design resembled the steep stairs of ziggurats built in ancient Mesopotamia.[13] Construction of the building was carried out according to Wright's sketch, in which visitors are guided through a series of connecting rooms, and are forced to return up the stairs upon exiting.[14] Wright planned for museum visitors to reach the top of the building by elevator, and that They descended at a leisurely pace through the gentle slope of the continuous ramp, so that they saw the building's atrium as the final piece of art in the exhibition. The open rotunda provides viewers with the unique ability to view multiple work bays simultaneously, and to interact with other museum guests on different levels of the building.[15]​.

At the same time, before siting the building on the corner of 89th Street and Fifth Avenue, Rebay, Wright and Guggenheim considered other locations in Manhattan, Central Park, as well as the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx.[16] Guggenheim considered the museum's proximity to Central Park to be important; since the park would provide relief from the noise, congestion and other bustle caused by the city.[13]​ In addition, the nature of the park would give a feeling of inspiration to the museum.[16]​ The building would embody an attempt by Wright to "render plasticity inherent to the organic forms of architecture."[14]​ Well, the museum would be the only one designed by the architect. The final location required that Wright design the building vertically, and not in a horizontal way as in some of his sketches, very different from the work that Wright had done in his beginnings.[13]​.

The spiral design resembled the shell of a Nautilus, with continuous spaces flowing freely into each other.[17] Even as the building embraced nature, Wright's design also expressed his take on the rigid geometry of modern architecture.[17] Wright designated symbolic meaning to the building's forms; adding that "geometric shapes suggest certain human ideas, moods and feelings - for example: the circle, infinity; the triangle, structural unity; the spiral, organic process; the square, integrity."[18] These shapes echo each other: oval columns, for example, withdraw the structural geometry of the source. The circularity of the figures is the leitmotiv (central motif), from the rotunda to the design embedded in the terrace floors.[16]​.

The surface of the building was made of cement to reduce its cost, much lower than the stone finish that Wright had planned.[19] Wright also proposed that the exterior be red, which was never carried out.[20] The small rotunda, or "monitoring building" as Wright called it, located next to the largest rotunda of the building, was initially conceived to house apartments for Hilla von Rebay and Solomon R. Guggenheim; instead, this space was used to house offices and warehouses.[21] In 1965, the second floor of the "monitoring building" was renovated to display the museum's ever-growing collection, and, with the museum's restoration between 1990 and 1992, it was converted entirely to exhibition space, named the "Thannhauser building", in honor of one of the Foundation's most important donors.[22] Wright's original plan to erect an additional tower, apartments, and art studios, was never undertaken, largely for funding reasons, until the renovation and expansion of the building a few decades later.[15][23] Furthermore, in the original construction, the main skylight-gallery had been covered, which compromised the lighting effects that Wright had articulated in his plans. This changed in 1992, when the skylight was restored to its original design.[19]​.

Sweeney and completion of construction

In 1953, the Foundation's collection criteria expanded under the direction of James Johnson Sweeney, the museum's new director. Sweeney disapproved of Hilla von Rebay's rejection of "objective" paintings and sculptures in the collection. He soon acquired the work "Adam and Eve" (1921) by Constantin Brâncuși, followed by other works by modernist sculptors, including Joseph Csaky, Jean Arp, Calder, Alberto Giacometti and David Smith. Sweeney went beyond the century to acquire the work Man with Crossed Arms (1899) by Paul Cézanne. 28 pieces of art, property of Katherine S. Dreier, founder of the first American collection to be recognized as a Museum of Modern Art, the Société Anonyme. Diere had been a friend of Rebay. The works included, among others, the works: Little French Girl (1914-18) by Brâncuși, "Untitled still life" (1916) by Juan Gris, a bronze sculpture (1919) by Alexander Archipenko, and 3 collages (1919-21) by German Hanoverian Dadaist Schwitters. It also included works by Calder, Marcel Duchamp, El Lissitzky and Mondrian.[8] Sweeney also included works by abstract impressionist artists such as Alberto Giacometti, David Hayes, Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock.[24]

Sweeney observed at least the last 6 years of the building's construction, a time in which he had an antagonistic relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright, and disputes among which the building's lighting stands out.[25]​[26]​ The distinctive cylindrical building would be the last major work designed and directed by Wright, as the latter would die six months before its opening.[27]​ From the street, the building looks like a white bow, curved on a cylindrical stack, wider in its level higher than lower, exhibiting curved surfaces on all sides. Its appearance makes a stark contrast to the typical geometric and rectangular Manhattan buildings that surround it, a fact envisaged by Wright, who claimed that his museum would make the Metropolitan Museum of Art look like a "Protestant barn".[27] Internally, the gallery forms a helical spiral ramp "Helix (geometry)"), gently climbing from ground level to the skylight at the top.[27]

Criticism and opening of the museum

Even before its opening, the museum was criticized for its architectural design.[27]​[28]​ Some critics believed that the building would overshadow the art pieces displayed in the museum.[6]​[29]​[30]​ "On the contrary... the building and the artwork create a beautiful uninterrupted symphony that has never existed in the art world before," Wright wrote.[29]​ Other critics, and many artists, felt it was uncomfortable and It was inappropriate to hang the paintings in the shade, that the building had no windows, and that the concave display surrounded the central spiral. Shortly before the museum opened, 21 artists signed a letter asking that their work be displayed on the site. Historian Lewis Mumford added to the opprobrium, noting:

On October 21, 1959, 10 years after the death of Solomon R. Guggenheim, and six months after the death of Frank Lloyd Wright, the Museum opened its doors to large crowds.[32][33]​ The building was widely acclaimed,[34][35]​ and was a source of inspiration for many other architects.[13]​.

Messer years

Thomas M. Messer succeeded Sweeney as director of the Museum, but not as director of the Foundation, since 1961, and remained there for 27 years, longer than any other director of a major art institution.[36] When Messer took over, the way the museum presented art remained in doubt, due to the challenges presented by the building's lighting, continuous gallery-ramp, and curved non-vertical walls.[37] he found it difficult to properly hang the paintings in the void of the shallow niches surrounding the center spiral; the canvases rose when mounted on the wall surface. The paintings were tilted as on the "artist's easel." There was limited space for sculpture.[27]​.

Almost immediately, in 1962, Messer took the risk of putting on a large exhibition, combining paintings from the original Guggenheim collection with sculptures borrowed from Hirshhron's collection.[37] The three-dimensional sculptures, in particular, increased the problem of "installing a spectacle in the museum that resembles the circular geometry of hell (Hell (Divine Comedy)")" where any vertical object seemed to be "drunkenly stabbed" down the slope. of the floor, and the curvature of the walls that created "irritating" optical illusions.[38]​ It turned out that the combination could work well in the Guggenheim space, but, Messer mentioned at the time that "I was scared. I had felt that this would be my last exhibition at the museum."[37]​ Messer had the foresight to prepare to organize a smaller exhibition of sculptures the previous year, in which he discovered a way to compensate for the challenging geometry of the space by building bases at a particular angle, so that the pieces were not in a vertical form but appeared to be.[38]​ In the initial sculpture show, this "trick" did not work for one of the pieces on display, a mobile by Alexander Calder, which featured a cable hanging vertically from the sculpture itself, which, once placed on the base, suggested hallucination in the disoriented context of the floor on which it was located.[38]​.

The following year, Messer acquired the private collection of art dealer Justin K. Thanhauser, for the museum's permanent collection. These 73 pieces of art included Impressionist, Post-Impressionist works, and masterpieces by French modernist artists; including works by Paul Gauguin, Edouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, Vincent van Gogh, and 32 works by Pablo Picasso. Tilson Thomas.

Krens, expansion of the Museum and internationalization of the Foundation

Thomas Krens, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation from 1988 to 2008, led the rapid expansion of the museum's collection.[42] In 1991, Krens greatly increased the collection after acquiring the Giuseppe Panza collection. Assembled by him, and by his wife, Giovanna, the collection included examples of minimalist sculptures by artists such as Carl Andre, Dan Flavin and Donald Judd, and minimalist paintings "Minimalism (painting)") by artists such as Robert Mangold, Brice Marden and Robert Ryman; as well as post-minimalist art, conceptual art and perceptual art by artists such as Robert Morris, Richard Serra, James Turrell, Lawrence Weiner and many others, notably works produced between 1960 and 1970.[8]​[43]​ In 1992, the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation gifted 200 of his best photographs to the Foundation; This included works such as collages, Polaroids, celebrity portraits, self-portraits, and photographs with themes such as nudes, flowers, and statues. It also featured mixed media constructions, including Mapplethorpe's famous "Self-portrait" (1998). With this acquisition, the Foundation began its photographic exhibition program.[8]​.

Also in 1992, the space of the museum building was expanded following the construction of an additional tower, erected behind the original building, and larger than the latter; Likewise, there were renovations to the original building.[23]​ The new tower was designed by the architectural firm "Gwathmey Siegel & Associates",[44]​ who analyzed Wright's original sketches to design the 10-story limestone tower, which would provide a much smaller structural footprint. In addition, the tower would house 4 additional display galleries with flat walls "more appropriate for displaying some of the pieces".[15]​[23]​ In the construction of the original building, the main skylight gallery had been covered, which compromised the lighting effects carefully articulated by Wright. This changed in 1992, when the skylight was restored to its original design.[19] By then, the original building was already recognized as an icon of the city, and the construction of the additional tower was somewhat controversial.

To finance such moves, controversially, the Foundation would sell some works by Kandinsky, Chagall and Modigliani for around $47 million, attracting criticism for exchanging works of "masters" for works of "fashionable" stragglers. Critic Michael Kimmelman of the American newspaper The New York Times wrote that the sales "stretched the accepted norms of art collecting, beyond what any other American institution was willing to do."[19][45] Krens defended his decisions as "consistent" with the principles of the Foundation and the Museum, including the international expansion of the collection, and the construction of the postwar collection, to "strengthen our prewar positions"[43] and He noted that sales like the Museum's are regularly practiced by other museums.[45] Simultaneously, he expanded the Foundation's international presence, opening museums in other countries.[46] Krens was also criticized for his characteristic business style, and for the populism and commercialization he received.[47][48] One writer commented that "Krens had been, both acclaimed and criticized, for changing what was previously a small New York institution into a global brand, creating the first real multinational art institution... Krens transformed the Guggenheim into a household name widely known in the world of the arts."[49]​.

Under his stewardship, the Museum mounted some of its most popular exhibitions to date, including "Africa: the Art of the Continent" in 1996; "China: 5,000 Years" in 1998, "Brazil: Body and Soul" in 2001, and "The Aztec Empire" in 2004.[50] He also occasionally showed unusual exhibits, for example a commercial motorcycle art installation. The New Criterion magazine, by Hilton Kramer (originally an art critic for The New York Times), condemned this latest exhibition, titled "The Art of the Motorcycle." 1992.[6]​.

In 2001, the museum opened the Sackler Art Education Center to the public, which would feature another portion of Wright's original design, funded by the family of Mortimer D. Sackler. exhibition, and its classrooms, as well as in the Peter B. Lewis Theater.[52]​ In addition, in 2001, the Foundation was gifted the large collection of the Bohen Foundation, which, for two decades, had acquired new pieces of art, including films, videos, photographs and new media. Some artists included in the collection were Pierre Huyghe, Sophie Calle and Jac Leirner.[2]​.

Museum Restoration

Between September 2005 and July 2008, the Guggenheim underwent an exterior restoration to repair cracks and[53]​ modernize its system as well as details on its exterior.[54]​ In the first phase of the project, a team of restoration architects, structural engineers, and architectural conservators worked together to create a comprehensive assessment of the building's condition to determine a fundamentally safe structure. This assessment included:

• - the removal of the original paint from the surface of the building, thus revealing hundreds of cracks caused by time and temporary weather conditions;[53]​.

• - detailed monitoring of the movement of selected cracks over 17 months;.

• - echo-impact technology, in which sound waves are sent to the cement, and the rebound is measured to locate the gaps between the walls;

• - laser studies on the exterior and interior surfaces, which is believed to have been the laser model ever compiled;

• - drilling of bases, in order to collect samples of the original cement, and other construction materials; and.

• - tests with potential repair materials.[55]​.

Much of the museum's interior was restored during the 1992 renovation and during construction of the additional space by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates architects. The 2005-2008 restoration focused primarily on the exterior and infrastructure of the original building. This included restoration of skylights, windows, doors, cement and twine facades, and exterior sidewalks. In the same way, an internal temperature control was implemented. The goal was to preserve as much of the historic fabrics of the original building as possible, while completing the repairs necessary for the building's continued use as a museum.[56]​.

On September 22, 2008, the Guggenheim celebrated the completion of its restoration (3 years in total). New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg officiated the celebration that would culminate with the premiere of the tribute "For the Guggenheim" by artist Jenny Holzer, a work made in honor of Peter B. Lewis, who would be the largest benefactor of the Museum's restoration project. Other supporters of the Museum's million-dollar restoration included the board of trustees of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, as well as the Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional financial support was provided by the State of New York and the MAPEI company.[57] The museum was registered as a National Historic Landmark on October 6, 2008.[58]

Later years and present

In 2005, Krens won a dispute against billionaire philanthropist Peter Lewis, Chairman of the Foundation's Board of Directors, and the largest contributor to the Foundation in its history. Lewis resigned as chairman of the board, expressing opposition to Krens' idea of ​​expanding the Foundation's museums globally. Additionally, in 2005, Lisa Dennison, a senior Foundation curator, was named director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Dennison resigned in July 2007, to work at the auction house Sotheby's.[60] Simultaneously, the tension between Krens and the Board of Directors continued, it was not until February 2008 that Krens resigned as Director of the Foundation. However, he is still her international affairs tutor.[61]

Richard Armstrong, former director (for 12 years) of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, was appointed as the Museum's 5th director on November 4, 2008.[62] Nancy Spector was named Chief Curator and Deputy Director of the Museum.[63]​.

Additionally, the Foundation's and the Museum's permanent collections grew.[2]​ The Foundation oversees and manages the loan of pieces from the collection for outside exhibitions and co-organizes exhibitions with other museums and foundations to encourage public dissemination of art.[64]​ In 2013, around 1.2 million people visited the museum, and the latter hosted the most popular exhibition in New York City (James Turell).[1]​.