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VISUAL ARTS OF ISLAM
For a list of the world's greatest
libraries and museum collections
of Muslim culture, see:
Museums of Islamic Art.
WORLDS TOP ARTISTS
For top creative practitioners, see:
Best Artists of All Time.
WORLD'S BEST ART
For a list of the finest works of
painting and sculpture, by the
world's most famous artists, see:
Greatest Paintings Ever
Oils, watercolours, mixed media
from 1300-present.
Greatest Sculptures Ever
Works in stone, bronze, wood
from 33,000 BCE-present.
JEWISH ART
For an outstanding collection of
Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Oriental
Judaica, crafts and artifacts,
see: Jewish Art Museum.
MODERN SCULPTURE
For contemporary 3-D artists, see:
Twentieth Century
Sculptors.
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Building Design
In keeping with the Guggenheim philosophy
of harmonizing architecture
and fine art - as reflected
in Frank Lloyd Wright's design for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in
New York - the Bilbao museum's avant-garde Deconstructivist design employs
a novel mix of materials to create an extraordinary silhouette, juxtaposing
strange organic shapes with huge glass walls and regular forms finished
in stone and titanium. Constructed using high-tech Computer Aided Three
Dimensional Interactive Applications (CATIA), the building has the
overall contour of a ship, reflecting the marine history of the site.
A tourist attraction in its own right, its spectacular appearance has
made an immense contribution to the image of the city, attracting visitors
from around the world. Amazingly, unlike other iconic buildings like the
Sydney Opera House, it was completed on time and within budget.
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is organized
around a central atrium, a huge empty space topped by a metal dome. From
this central area, a network of glass lifts, stairways and curved walkways
connect nearly 20 galleries of varying spatial proportions, that display
works both chronologically and by artist. Temporary shows and large-scale
works are presented in an unusual 30 metre wide gallery extending almost
130 metres in length under the La Salve bridge. The total area of the
museum consists of a massive 24,000 square metres.
Permanent Collection
The permanent collection of the Guggenheim
Museum Bilbao encompasses works by the foremost artists of the last four
decades of the 20th century, augmented by items from the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Foundation, including major exemplars of modern
art movements like Abstract
Expressionism and American Pop-Art,
as well as contemporary art movements such as Arte Povera, Minimalism,
Post-Minimalism, and Conceptual art.
In general, the emphasis is on installations
and electronic forms of art, rather than traditional fine
art painting. In addition, a number of spaces are reserved for in-depth
installations and other large-scale works created specially for the Museum.
Thus for example, artists like Sol LeWitt, Richard Long, and Richard Serra
have created site-specific works to exploit the large areas of the museum.
Contemporary Basque and Spanish artists such as Eduardo Chillida, Juan
Munoz, Antonio Saura, and Antoni Tapies are also represented.
Highlights
Special acquisitions by the Bilbao museum
have included outstanding signature works such as Lightning with Stag
Caught in its Glare (1958–85) by conceptualist Joseph Beuys (1921-86),
Barge (1962–63) by assemblage artist and painter Robert Rauschenberg
(1925-2008), and two unique monumental works: Puppy (1992) by Neo-Pop
artist Jeff Koons (b.1955),
and Richard Serra's eight-part suite The Matter of Time (2005),
considered by some critics to be one of the most important sculpture installations
ever produced. The Bilbao collection also presents a number of in-depth
displays of individual artists, like Anselm Kiefer, to illustrate the
development of their art over a period of time.
Additionally, Bilbao’s holdings include
work by modern and contemporary Basque and Spanish artists, including
Eduardo Chillida, Juan Muñoz, Antonio Saura, and Antoni Tàpies
in order to preserve and bring global attention to their vital cultural
heritage.
Temporary Exhibitions
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao hosts an active
program of temporary exhibitions, encompassing avant-garde abstract, thematic
shows of art from around the world (eg. Chinese, Russian art) and other
contemporary exhibits.
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