The captivating tale of the plans and personalities behind one of New York City's most radical and recognizable buildings Considered the crowning achievement of Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan is often called iconic. But it is in fact iconoclastic, standing in stark contrast to the surrounding metropolis and setting a new standard for the postwar art museum. Commissioned to design the building in 1943 by the museum's founding curator, Baroness Hilla von Rebay, Wright established residence in the Plaza Hotel in order to oversee the project. Over the next 17 years, Wright continuously clashed with his clients over the cost and the design, a conflict that extended to the city of New York and its cultural establishment. Against all odds, Wright held fast to his radical design concept of an inverted ziggurat and spiraling ramp, built with a continuous beam--a shape recalling the form of an hourglass. Construction was only completed in 1959, six months after Wright's death. The building's initial critical response ultimately gave way to near-universal admiration, as it came to be seen as an architectural masterpiece. This essential text, offering a behind-the-scenes story of the Guggenheim along with a careful reading of its architecture, is beautifully illustrated with more than 150 images, including plans, drawings, and rare photographs of the building under construction.

Originally, Solomon R. Guggenheim donated works from his collection to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, which he began in 1937 to support and promote non-objective art. Then, in 1939, he established the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, which was renamed the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1952, and its signature Frank Lloyd Wright building opened on New York's Fifth Avenue in 1959. Over time, the Guggenheim has expanded the type of art that it exhibits and collects through the addition of other great collections - notably, those of Karl Nierendorf, Peggy Guggenheim, Justin and Hilde Thannhauser, and Giuseppe Panza di Biumo - as well as through opportunities that resulted from the institution's increasingly international focus in more recent decades. The Guggenheim today encompasses venues on two continents: the museum in New York, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin and the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in Las Vegas. This volume is published on the occasion of a major exhibition at the Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, and the Kunstmuseum Bonn. With its comprehensive presentation of masterworks from the Guggenheim's extended holdings, it provides insight into Modern and Contemporary art movements - from Impressionism to Cubism, Surrealism to Abstract Expressionism, Pop art and Minimalism to the most recent developments - and the distinctive features of the collection. The selection emphasizes the Guggenheim's ongoing commitment to acquiring the work of particular artists in depth, including Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Serra and Matthew Barney, among many others.

Preface and Acknowledgments / Thomas Krens -- The Genesis of a Museum: A History of the Guggenheim / Thomas Krens -- Frank Lloyd Wright and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum / Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer -- Paintings of Modern Life and Modern Myths: Late-Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Representations of Gender, Class, and Race in the Thannhauser Collection / Andrea Feeser -- 1912 / Lisa Dennison -- Technology and the Spirit: The Invention of Non-Objective Art / Michael Govan -- Peggy's Surreal Playground / Jennifer Blessing -- Art of This Century and the New York School / Diane Waldman -- Against the Grain: A History of Contemporary Art at the Guggenheim / Nancy Spector -- The Institution as Frame: Installations at the Guggenheim / Clare Bell.

The adventure that began in Siobhan Dowd's popular and acclaimed novel The London Eye Mystery at long last continues with Ted, Kat, and their cousin Salim investigating a theft at the Guggenheim Museum that's been pinned on Salim's mother! When Ted and his big sister, Kat, take a trip to New York to visit their cousin Salim and their aunt Gloria, they think they're prepared for big-city adventures. But when a famous painting is stolen from the Guggenheim Museum, where Aunt Gloria works, the surprises begin to mount faster than they could have anticipated. With the police looking at Aunt Gloria as the prime suspect, Ted, Kat, and Salim become sleuthing partners, following a trail of clues across NYC to prove her innocence--and to pinpoint the real thief. Ultimately, it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to the mystery. "Fast-paced, suspenseful, but never scary, a middle-grade mystery with a singular voice and a welcome continuation of the Sparks' adventures." -- Kirkus Reviews "Swift pacing and smartly integrated clues allow readers to make connections along with the characters. Stevens's portrayal of Ted, who is on the autism spectrum, is positive and empowering" -- School Library Journal "A welcome return for this dynamic trio." -- Booklist

Studie over het werk van de Russische kunstenaar Vasilij Vasil'evic̆ Kandinskij (1866-1944) in het New Yorkse museum.

Case studies / Francesca Esmay, Ted Mann, and Jeffrey Weiss -- Decommission. Lost and found : history, policy, works / Francesca Esmay, Ted Mann, and Jeffrey Weiss -- Endgame / Martha Buskirk -- Enforcing the work of art / Virginia Rutledge -- Where eoes the work reside? a conversation between Martha Buskirk and Virginia Rutledge -- Selected correspondence and PCI interviews.

Text by Hilary Ballon, Luis Carranza, Pat Kirkham, Neil Levine, Scott Perkins, Nancy Spector, Angela Starita.