The Guggenheim Museum New York is a pillar of excellence and innovation among New York art museums. Solomon R. Guggenheim, business entrepreneur who began the successful Yukon Gold Company in Alaska and later became art collector and philanthropist, founded the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1937, and the Guggenheim New York was opened two years later. Its first home was in a former automobile showroom located on New York City's East 54th Street, but Guggenheim himself, along with his artist/advisor Hilla Rebay, had grander ideas in mind for the museum's permanent home.
Usher in Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed the buidling for The Guggenheim. Officially opening in 1959, it was an architectural wonder of its time. Spiral in design, it stands out among the more traditional angular buildings found in New York City. In 1992 an additional tower was added to the Guggenheim New York to add to and enhance exhibition space.
The Guggenheim Museum New York, originally known as The Museum of Non-Objective Painting, includes avant-garde works by artists such as Vasily Kandinsky and Pablo Picasso. Works are displayed along the interior of the building's original spiral walls, as well as in adjacent rooms and within the new tower addition.
The Guggenheim New York is closed on Thursdays and Christmas Day, and offers donation-based “pay what you wish” ticket sales on Friday evenings. Ticket prices include a complimentary audio tour. The Guggenheim offers a museum store and museum café, and is handicapped-accessible.
The Guggenheim Museum New York is a cultural gem set amidst not only the rest of Museum Mile and other New York art museums, but of New York City itself. It offers the visitor a glimpse into early-mid 20th century innovation in art-via both the works it houses on the inside, and the architectural wonder of the building itself.
Flanking Central Park along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan's Upper East Side, The Guggenheim New York is located in what's known as the Museum Mile. Other notable New York art museums in this famous section of Fifth Avenue include The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Jewish Museum.
