BWW Blog: Who Made the Guggenheim the Guggenheim?

Who made the Guggenheim the Guggenheim?

By Barry Kostrinsky

Who made the Guggenheim the Guggenheim? Why Rockefeller of course. Remember in My Big Fat Greek Wedding the wise words of the wife- yes...the man has the head but the woman controls the neck and which way the head turns. Solomon Guggenheim's wife, a Rockefeller, introduces Hilla Rebay to her husband and fosters the beginning of a relationship that posts Hilla as the art advisor for Peggy's uncle and the first director of the Museum of Non-Objective Art- yes, the original name of the Guggenheim Museum which could have been called Kandinsky's Painting Depot (KPD) given the deep collection of his artworks. However the acronym KPD was already taken by the Kauai Police Department and with Solomon's passing we get the name we know: The Guggenheim Museum.

Kandinsky's range can fill a museum with broad strokes; however the bauhaus influence on the later work on the right seems to have pigeonhold his creative expressions. The earlier work on the left even with its traditional Russian references seems more alive, moving and vibrating than his reductive approach on the later work that leaves a bland taste of blue stainless steel in your mouth from it's analytic over-handedness.

The current exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum, one of the great Museum experiences in the world, highlights six major contributors to the collection most New Yorker's have grown to love in their backyard bordering Central Park. Sweeping curves undulating up and down the central spineless cathedral like space by the ever inventive Frank Lloyd Wrights, whose building was once described as a washing machine, leaves the museum goer feeling a little more satisfied having spent $25 for admission.

Who is spending this much to go see art meant to be for the public? Well, not the public. Going to Museums has become the provenance of tourists and the well to do. The ideally socially leveled playing field has not come into focus that was imagined by the founders. In this crowd of tourist I met a beautiful couple from Northern England, just south of Scotland. We had a great discussion about the Calder's in the show, "Emperor's New Clothes" in the art world and of course the new American President. The couple pointed out the Museums in England were free and again I felt like America has not done her part for her people. Often contemporary artwork is held together by a thin strap of g-stringed intellectual ideas that tear quickly; however this exhibit, basically a rehanging of the permanent collection and thus calling into question if this exhibit was a cost saver, showcases such great works it would be hard not to see beyond sight and feel elevated after the experience.

The story that brings the collection together is of some collectors and gallerist like Justin Thannhausser and Karl Nierendorf that immigrated from fear of Nazi's and trouble in Europe and traveled to the United States. It's a good thing Trump wasn't issuing visas otherwise the US would never have become great or at least not been as bad as it really is. The US was once a sanctuary for artists, physicists, thinkers and the oppressed of the world and the global psyche is hurt by us closing our doors.

Yes, Immigrants can be silly at times but some have much to offer our country just as the silly boy on the right did.

The thrust of this collection is an appreciation of the now in art, the contemporary of its day and indeed the insight of Solomon, Peggy, Hilla, Justin, Karl and Katherine Dreier. If this was a horse race, Peggy, the one time goat of the family, the crazy gal with crazy taste, comes out looking as the most insightful and "in front" like the great champion Secretariat. The works on the top floors that Peggy collected stand out and almost overshadow the rest of the collection except for the Kandinsky's on the lower floors.

Peggy's pick of Pollack early on in his career was brilliant. Yes she had a guiding eye at time being the wife of Max Ernst and having Marcel Duchamp to advice her but give her credit for aligning with the foremost thinkers of her day.

An excellent comparison is achieved by the curators hanging a Gauguin next to a Van Gogh with only a three or four year span between the two artworks. You can see how the artists were different in their approaches, in the thickness of their strokes, their outlines and the opaqueness and transparencies of their colors. As usual everyone seems to come up short when compared to Vincent.

So stop shoveling and and go for free Tea on Wednesday's from 1:30 on in a Chinese style tea service setting and don't miss the exhibit "Tales of Our Time" concurrently on view at the place Hilla built, Peggy's brilliant eye shines in, Frank shaped and Kandinsky lives on in.

https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/the-makers-of-the-guggenheim