Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao with the Ria des Nervión in downtown Bilbao (from the northeast)

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao from the north-west

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a Art Museum for Modern Art in Bilbao in the Spanish Basque Country . It has an exhibition area of 11,000 m² and shows both a permanent exhibition and external traveling exhibitions. The museum is one of three Guggenheim museums of the US Foundation Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation .

Building

The oval- like building is located in downtown Bilbao on the bank of the Nervión River , which flows into the Ria de Bilbao, right next to and below the Puente La Salve . The architect is the Canadian-American architect and designer Frank O. Gehry . The building concept was presented to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1993. The foundation stone was laid that same year.

The building was completed in 1997 and is famous for its deconstructivist architectural style . The construction time was four years. The opening ceremony took place on October 18, 1997 in the presence of King Juan Carlos . The Guggenheim Museum is one of the city's major attractions. In 2001 it received the IABSE's “ Outstanding Structure Award ” . The term Bilbao Effect is derived from the museum building and its influence on the city .

Maman , spider sculpture by Louise Bourgeois in front of the building
The Guggenheim is made of glass, titanium and limestone
Planted dog figure in front of the Guggenheim Museum
Puppy (1997) 12.4 m high flower sculpture by Jeff Koons
inside view
Fog installation by Fujiko Nakaya and part of the La Salve bridge
Detailed view of the titanium plates on the museum wall
The architecture of the museum is characterized not only by organic, but also by geometric shapes
The museum with pond, La Salve bridge and "Tulips" by Jeff Koons
Facade design with titanium elements each unique, architectural detail east view
Guggenheim Museum northeast side with north exterior
Maman (spider), 9 m high sculpture from a bird's eye view in front of the Guggenheim Museum on the Nervión River

Focus

The focus is on contemporary art of the 20th century, which is also part of the permanent exhibition. Objects are less paintings and sculptures than installations , video art and the like.

For the tenth anniversary, Albrecht Dürer's prints from the Frankfurt Städel were exhibited in the summer of 2007 . This exhibition was then shown in the Städel itself.

Regarding the number of visitors, the museum management announced that the 600,000 annual visitors expected at the opening were exceeded each year. For its tenth anniversary in 2007, the ten millionth visitor was welcomed, the number has now leveled off at 1 million a year, 60% of them from abroad. In addition to the undoubtedly great cultural enrichment for Bilbao and the entire region of Northern Spain, the museum is also an economic success that has created several thousand jobs. The Bilbao Effect was named after this upgrading of the city .

On March 7, 2008, the work Music of the Spheres by the British composer and musician Mike Oldfield was premiered in front of invited guests with the participation of Hayley Westenra . A recording of the concert was later released on iTunes and on CD.

In 2008, Juan Ignacio Vidarte was named assistant director and chief officer of global strategies for the New York Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and general director of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.