Art Class - Guggenheim
On this day in 1959, the Guggenheim Museum opened in New York City.
It all started in 1939, when Solomon Guggenheim, with the help of Hilla Rebay, displayed his art collection in an old car showroom. Over the next few years, his collection outgrew the space, so Rebay contacted Frank Lloyd Wright about designing a "temple of spirit."
Unfortunately, Guggenheim passed away six months before the museum opened.
His collection included some of the following:
Vasily Kandinsky
Paul Klee
Marc Chagall
And currently on view in NYC: Helen Frankenthaler
Solomon's niece, Peggy Guggenheim, was also an art collector, and has a museum in her name in Venice, Italy.
In 1943, she commissioned Jackson Pollock to paint a mural sized canvas for her new home. It is the largest painting he ever made.
In 1997, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain opened. It was designed by Frank Gehry.
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