On Oct. 21, 1959, the Guggenheim Museum, a leading gallery of contemporary art, opened on Fifth Ave. in New York City. It’s named for Solomon R. Guggenheim, a bigwig in the mining industry who started collecting contemporary art in the 1930s after his retirement.
He started displaying his collection in New York in 1939, quickly outgrowing the original space as he acquired more works. Eventually he and his partners commissioned the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design a grand new museum to hold the works.
Wright worked on the project for a decade and a half but died just six months prior to its opening. The building is sleek, with curved-off corners and smooth, windowless walls. The right side resembles a giant funnel, overlooking the building’s more traditional-looking left half (save for what looks kind of like a UFO on top).
The design was divisive, with some criticism that it didn’t aesthetically suit the collection inside. Now, though, it’s hard to imagine Central Park without the Guggenheim right next door. You can read more about the museum on its website.
