Guggenheim Museum

5/26/2007

The Guggenheim is a great museum, it's a 3 star because it is currently under construction and wasn't offering many exhibits however my all time favorite was on the 6th floor : a year with children 2007. It was in the largest room in the gallery and showed many pieces of artwork.  I would make sure you check out the website before you go and make sure the exhibits look good, I would have rather gone to the MET if it hadn't; been for the Children's artwork exhibit.

8/21/2007

I confess, this museum was a big disappointment to me. From an architectural standpoint, yes, it's interesting and beautiful. But their permanent collection is just so-so. They have a lot of Kandinsky, who I love, so it wasn't a total wash, and I think it's so great they give out headsets that explain the art with admission cost, but I couldn't help but feel like there was very little substance to the place. Most of what I saw were small sculptures, which was fine, but they did not move or interest me. They were not special in the way that a Guggenheim museum piece should be special.

8/13/2007

This is a lovely place to kill some time and look at some very interesting abstract art. My highlight really from visiting this place was the lighted floors with the music playing hahaha. The Guggenheim is very easy to get to, it is located right next to Central Park. Their free audio headset that came with a purchase of the ticket to come in was very informative. I didn't like the projected art video that they had in one of the bathrooms where it shows a clown or something in a dress running around in a grass field. It was creepy along with the music it was playing lol. Oh well. it was an experience.

8/27/2006

Wonderful Museum...not enough bathrooms for women...I had to leave early during a great show...

8/23/2006

I love the architecture, the exhibits and everything having to do with The Gugg.

3/10/2006

Want to get all dizzy and feel like you're going to throw up? Go to the top floor on the Guggenheim and sheepishly peer over the edge, it's definitely a vertigo inducing experience. It's cool, though. I highly recommend starting at the top and working your way down. A retrospective by David Smith was the highlight which was decent, but not really fantastic... Then again, I'm not all that into sculpture, but whatever. Kandinsky's permanent collection made the trip completely worthwhile. The architecture was an amazing feat to get dizzy over as well.

12/31/2005

The spiral staircase is wicked.  But I must agree about the permanent collection- it's not that great.  However, from time to time, they have killer exhibits and those are the ones worth going to see.

7/27/2009

I'm a big Guggenheim Museum fan (or at least used to be), and I love their Kandinsky Gallery. My last visit was way disappointing... The Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit wasn't really exciting, it gets really boring after a while. So I thought I would at least get to see my beloved Kandinsky paintings, what I could do, but could I really enjoy and appreciate it? No, bummer. Here is what happened: on our way in we entered the gallery and I tried to enjoy and appreciate the art, but there was two or three security guards talking very loud and it really drove me crazy, I was unable to enjoy the moment. Then later, on our way back we entered the gallery again, so (I hoped) I could see the exhibit, but it turns out that the security guards while taking their breaks hang out at this gallery (or at least looks like they do that) because once again, there was a different group of staff members hanging there and speaking really loud... bummer, bummer, bummer. Very unpleasant.

1/20/2008

I can't judge the quality of this museum because half of it was closed for renovation when I came. There was a pretty awesome exhibition of Eastern European photography from the late Teens to mid 1940's. I'm a sucker for 20th Century Labor propaganda, and that, some interesting Futurist-syle pamphleture and Surrealist images, plus lots of "Neufrau"  gender exploration (e.g. sweaty aryan gals in tennis whites) was good viewing on a socio-anthropological level. I wasn't a huge fan of the kind of work housed in their permanent collection, but people who dig Kandinsky would be very happy here. Mainly I enjoyed the museum because Tom Tykwer was shooting a Clive Owen/Naomi Watts thriller across the street and I weaseled my way onto the extras set. Apologies to the man I was paired with to walk down the street that evening-- I felt badly when you told me you had been on set since 5am. But, come on: Clive Owen. Wouldn't you?

1/3/2006

The sparsely populated "Goog" is form over function, for sure. The mirrored helix and purple stained-glass interior is unique, if not entirely worth the fifteen bucks.

3/26/2009

I find the guggenheim, incredibly good if you want to enrich yourself in art. Their feature artists/exibitions are moving, rewarding, and just plain awesome. What I don't like is the tourist and student field trips going on. What can you do. Plus walking around and around is not fun. So take it slow, wear good shoes, and avoid the crowds come a little early or late.

3/12/2006

I'm truly in love with the architectural design and structure of this place! I always make it a point to check out their permanent collection as I'm a big fan of Picasso, Kandinsky, and Van Gogh.  One of my past favorite exhibits however was the one on hands and I sent everyone to see it! Checking out their collections can be a big confusing as you wrap and spiral around and around the building--but it makes for a great experience!

8/24/2007

B-O-R-I-N-G. I was in and out of here in less than 30 minutes. It sucked that they were doing renovations while we were there, so the building looked like crap from the outside. Inside, the design of the building looked really cool though. I liked 2 pieces here, and that was it. The art was way too contemporary/modern for me. Not my taste, but no disrespect to the people who can enjoy it.

7/3/2006

the last time i was at the guggenheim in NYC, my brother and i re-enacted the scene in the royal tenenbaums where royal looks out the window and eli is coming out of the window below and royal yells out, 'I KNOW YOU, ASSHOLE!'

nobody kicked us out.  god, i love the guggenheim.

also, they have amazing exhibits.  the moving pictures one a few years back, was one of my favorites.

10/18/2007

What I like most is the simplicity.  You are not overwhelmed by the place or the art.  Don't get me wrong--love that about the Met and Natural History museum but not here.  It's just right.

1/12/2006

I enjoyed myself here, plain and simple.

7/20/2007

i've been here once...and that was really enough. maybe i'm super critical about this place b/c of my love for art/museums...but i just didnt dig it. the building itself was the most amazing piece of art in the entire place. love the way it winds you up the ramp to the top...but i dont think it is the best layout for traffic flow through the museum. also, when we went there they had a huge exhibit that overtook the whole museum, and the permanent collection was shown in the smaller rooms (which really wasnt much). i didnt like that. i mean, i guess i just wasnt expecting it. i was actually rather bored by it.

9/21/2005

Not impressed with the permanent collection.  No stark experience to take home with you.  Perhaps the exhibits vary greatly so I will give the museum a second chance down the line.  Oh maybe I just was not impressed because I have been to the Guggenheim in Bilboa and that is a hard show to follow.

12/29/2006

If you go, bring leather soled shoes, hit the elevator, and skate your way down from the top of the swirl all the way to the bottom.  The floor is just smooth enough to slide.  Stop liberally at all the annexes to see a mix of brilliance (Picasso's Bullfight) to the awful (whomever was the fellow who thought cutting the canvas was high art, yawn).   The current show is Spanish painters, from the renaissance through Picasso (with the occasional teensy Dali thrown in).  I never cared much for Picasso (overhyped?) until today when I stood next to his larger than lifesize work and took a close look.  His technique is wonderfully clever.  In 4 strokes the artist crafts supple flesh and eyes with depth.  To simulate a pencil sketch you watch him cover the canvas in black, then paint over in white, then use a scraper to make the fast lines that evoke a pencil stroke out of oil.  To evoke the knee of the horse in Bullfight, he merely makes a thick black lined swirl.  From a distance you don't even notice it, but up close the little details start to leap out.  Not something I'd ever enjoy from a coffee table book but very glad I saw live.  My only nit?  There are no names/descriptions of the pieces on the main wall - so you constantly have to move your head away from the work to read about each.  Perhaps they were trying to minimize gawking and move foot traffic, but it does drag on the experience the 30th time.

11/2/2004

You can't not go to the Guggenheim. A great piece of architecture in its own right, and tons of great shows year round. Favorites in the past have been the fashion exhibits as welll as some more of up and coming young artists from around the world. Be sure to get there early, so you can take your time cruising around.

3/18/2008

i loved the river raft ride.

4/12/2010

love the design of the museum- starting at the top and working my way down was definitely the way to go.

4/30/2007

Overall uninspiring art.  I found the Picassos uninteresting; I suppose a large bucket of money went into acquiring them.  The design of the museum is pretty but not practical causing human traffic jams. I just don't appreciate architecture which does a wonderful job on form but a crappy job on function.  I see no reason why I would want to pay $20 to come back a 2nd time.  MoMA is far better.

1/16/2007

Glad I went, just to spend time in the building, everyone says it, but it's true! The El Greco to Picasso exhibit wasn't quite my thing but it was worth seeing. I didn't care for the Kandinsky exhibit, but what I did actually really enjoy was the Fontana exhibit. The gallery lighting bounces off the shiny metal making beautiful reflections that become a part of the show. But like I said, it's all about seeing the building. If you don't like art museums maybe just swing by and take in the view from the lobby, but as long as you enjoy art at least a little it's worth going in and getting to see the whole thing. I will say, they need better signage in the lobby. I had walked several blocks in the rain and wanted to freshen up but tried to head towards a restroom behind the admission line by mistake. There was another one for me to use, but unless the rain had just really gotten to me there was no good signs pointing these things out. Also, I feel kind of stupid about this one but another review mentions the audio tour is free and this was not clear, and it's right by the ticket desk! They could say something and help us soggy tourists out!

4/3/2006

This Upper East Side Frank Lloyd Wright design (his final work, it opened in 1959), a piece of art in itself and one of the great architectural achievements of the 20th century, has a great structure designed around a giant spiral ramp. More appealing to adults than to kids, the collection is mostly 20th-century works that may not appeal to everyone. Chagall, Picasso (see Woman with Yellow Hair), Brancusi, Kandinsky (see Dominant Curve), and Gauguin are mostly hung in the tower, which was added to the back of the building in the 1990s. The rotunda houses a small selection of impressionist, post-impressionist and early modernist work. Less tiring if you start at the top and work your way down. Strollers are not allowed, but they do offer free baby backpacks. I came here in October 2000 specifically to see the 25 Years of Giorgio Armani exhibition, which I loved. Admission is by donation 6-8PM Fridays, otherwise $18, and closed Thursdays. The museum store has pricey merchandise for art lovers and materialists.

12/29/2005

this is by far my favorite museum to go to! so glad i was here to check out the matthew barney exhibition and many other notable works by various artists!

9/22/2007

I love to walk around this museum, as the entire museum is just one big piece of art and now that the renovaion is nearly complete, it'll be looking better than ever.  Although some, like me, do like that rustic look to it  a little.  I usually like to walk up the ramp and not use the elevator and then walk down.  Not sure why.  Just a personal preference, but you could do either way.  I was here for a special motorcycle show many years back and that was my first time here, but certainly not my last.  I have returned may times, the last being just last summer to see the renovated exhibit as well as some modern exhibit, which was pretty interesting.  They also had this random multi-colored floor that reminded me of disco, which was really cool.  Some people were dancing, but I just gave a pose for a picture.  Why not.  Then the ascension begins and the art don't stop.  There are always the stops at each level for the exhibits inside the large rooms, away from the main walkway and sometimes, these are more interesting than the main exhibit.  Like when they had the original collection from the Gugghehheim, which was full of great paintings of all kinds.  This museum is a true treasure and I try to hit it once a year or more.  It's just so inspiring to see this building that functions as a piece of art with other pieces of art wthin.  Stands out with the all the surrounding buildings and makes for a great afternoon experience.