GUGGENHEIM BILBAO MUSEUM History The importance of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao goes far beyond a mere artistic matter. It can be safely said that the appearance of the Museum in Bilbao has marked a turning point in the history of our city. That genesis, creation and evolution have become known as the Guggenheim effect, which will certainly be the subject of study in our classrooms in the near future. It all started in the early 1990's in a post-industrial Bilbao immersed in an economic crisis making a change in direction a matter of maximum urgency. Thus, municipal leaders debated the exigency of undertaking a project that would become an economic and cultural engine, revitalising the city of Bilbao. This need coincided with a new expansion model of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, aiming to forge international partnerships, who consequently decided to open two new museums in Europe, namely the Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. It was first proposed to renovate the Alh贸ndiga, the old wine warehouse, to be home to the new museum. This idea was soon dropped in favour of the present location on the riverbank of the Ibaizabal-Nervion River, next to La Salve Bridge, a fundamental element of the city's scenery.
A contest was organized to choose the architectural project for the future Museum with submissions from the firms of renowned architects: Frank GEHRY (CanadaUSA), Arata ISOZAKI (Japan) and Coop Himmelb(l)au (Austria), including Wolf PRIX and Helmut SWICZINSKY. The winner was Mr GEHRY's undoubtedly spectacular project, which was presented in February 1993. Eight months later, on 23rd October 1993, the Ceremony of the laying of the Museum's first stone was held, signalling the start of construction. For the following four years, Bilbao's scenery blended with a rising sinuous structure that peeked the curiosity of all who passed by, a hint of the unexpected future success the building would enjoy. Finally, the Museum's official public unveiling took place on 19th October 1997, exceeding all expectations from the very first day. Unanimous acclaim from the Basque people as well as from tourists and architecture critics alike made the Museum a true symbol of change. Today, and over a decade later, the Museum's success on many levels is unquestionable.
The Permanent Collection The Permanent Collection of the Guggenheim Museums is composed of the individual collections belonging to the various museums of the Guggenheim Network, each one mutually complementing and enriching the others. Thanks to this network, Guggenheim Museums can access these collections to incorporate them in their presentations, thereby allowing a profound and comprehensive exploration of the art of our day. The range of this enormous collection goes from the first avant-garde works to contemporary art, allowing Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to put on exhibits of great historical value and depth. However, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao has been building its own collection, which has grown both in quantity and historical depth since its inauguration and over the art gallery's 13 year history. Comprised of works from the middle of the 20th century until today, the collection pays special attention to the dialogue between Europe and America with such masterpieces as: Untitled, by Mark ROTHKO; a series of representative pieces affording an in-depth look at the work of certain artists, such as Anselm KIEFER; and works especially installed in dialogue with specific spaces within the Museum, as is the case with The Matter of Time by Richard SERRA, along with significant examples of both Basque and Spanish art.
Museum room with Eduardo Chillida's works.
Additionally, some of the most important works the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao owns are by such artists as: Joseph BEUYS, Louise BOURGEOIS, Eduardo CHILLIDA, Yves KLEIN, Willem de KOONING, Robert MOTHERWELL, Jorge OTEIZA, Robert RAUSCHENBERG, James ROSENQUIST, Clyfford STILL, Antoni TAPIES, Cy TWOMBLY and Andy WARHOL. In terms of Basque art, the Guggenheim Permanent Collection features works by some of the most relevant Basque artists from various generations. Starting with CHILLIDA and OTEIZA, there are with such names as: Txomin BADIOLA, Jesus Mari LAZKANO, Pello IRAZU, Prudencio IRAZABAL and Cristina IGLESIAS, and even some young artists such as Ibon ARANBERRI, Abilgail LAZKOZ, Asier MENDIZABAL, Maider LOPEZ and Itziar OKARIZ.
Still. C. Untitled. 1964
Rothko. M. Untitled. 1952-53
Saura. A. Crucifixion. 1959-1963
Klein. Y. Large Blue Anthropometry ( ANT 105) (La grande AnthropomĂŠtrie bleue) ( ANT 105). 1960
Rosenquist. J. Flamingo Capsule.1970
Warhol. A. One Hundred and Fifty Multicolored Marilyns. 1979
Rauschenberg. R. Barge. 1962-63.
Oteiza. J. Study for the Emptying Sphere. 1958
Motherwell. R. The Voyage: Ten Years After. 1961
Past Exhibitions Since its inception in 1997, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao has hosted some of the most visited shows offered in Europe, starting with the first exhibit entitled The Guggenheim Museums and this century's art, an important selection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation collection. Over the years, the Guggenheim Museum's exhibition calendar has turned out to be among the most attractive in Europe including the most recent shows. Taking a look at the many outstanding shows, two of the most significant have been: China: 5,000 years (1998), with over 500 pieces dating from the Neolithic until modern times, among which is found the famous Terracota Warriors from the Qin Dynasty; and finally in 2010 with the exhibition The Golden Age of Dutch and Flemish Painting from the Städel Museum, taking one on a tour through the cornerstone of the Frankfurt Museum's collection, showing the spectator a panorama of 17th century Dutch and Flemish Painting. Exhibition “Anish Kapoor”. 2010. Anish Kapoor Yellow. 1999. Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery, London
Between the two exhibitions mentioned above, the number of shows hosted by the Museum is practically innumerable. Of note are: Robert RAUSCHENBERG: A Retrospective (1998); The Art of the Motorcycle (1999); Giorgio Armani (2001), Rubens and His Age: Treasures from the Ermitage Museum (2003); Calder. Gravity and Grace (2003); Miguel Angel and his age (2004); ArchiSculpture (2005); The Aztec Empire (2005); 100% Africa (2006); Art in the USA: 300 Years of Innovation (2007); Cy Twombly (2008); Surreal Things (2008); Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe (2009) or Anish Kapoor (2010), among many others.
Exhibition “Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe ” 2009. Cai Guo-Qiang Head on. 2006. Deutsche Bank Collection. Comisioned by Deutsche Bank AG.
Exhibition “Calder. Gravity and Grace. ”. 2003. Exhibition “The Golden Age of Dutch and Flemish Painting from the Städel Museum”. 2010. Bartholomäus Breenbergh The Martyrdom of St Lawrence, 1647. Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Otto´s Mobile, 1952 Beyeler Foundation, Basilea
Exhibition “100% África”. 2006. Chéri Samba. I Like the colour (J’aime la couleur), 2003 Courtesy of C.A.A.C. - Pigozzi Colection, Ginebra © Chéri Samba
Exhibition “Art in the U.S.A.: Three Hundred Years of Innovation” 2007 Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) Number 18, 1950 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Gift, Janet C. Hauck, in loving memory of Alicia Guggenheim and Fred Hauck, 1991
Photographs: Otto´s Mobile: Erika Barahona Ede, Guggenheim Bilbao Museum Anthropomorfic mask: Michel Zabé, asistant, Enrique Macías The Matter of Time: Erika Barahona Ede. ©FGBMGuggenheim Bilbao Museoa
Exhibition ”Giorgio Armani”. 2001.
Exhibition “The Aztec Empire”. 2005. Anthropomorfic Mask Teotihuacana, ca. 450 Nacional Museum of Anthropology, INAH, Mexico City 10-9630
The Matter of Time Gallery 104 of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is the biggest room in the building, and was designed by Frank O. GEHRY as a place to house monumental art, where the pieces of art would feed the spirit of the space and vice-versa. Expressly conceived for the Museum by American sculptor Richard SERRA, Snake (1994-97) has been on display in this Gallery has since its inauguration. Snake is a work whereby spectators walk through a serptine passage created between plates of hot-rolled steel. Perhaps due to this essential presence, the American minimalist was commissioned with a number of works created to permanently inhabit the aforementioned ArcelorMittal Gallery 104. Without a doubt one of the most intriguing installations on the world scene, The Matter of Time was inaugurated in June 2005. Conceptually following Snake, the artist's previous work, and comprised of seven colossal sculptures, it is a rumination on the physicality of space and the nature of sculpture. This work is a must-see, best appreciated by walking through and around the sculptures, as well as viewed from above from the Museum's second floor balcony. Richard Serra