Behind many venerable institutions are radical beginnings, and that is certainly true for art museums, such as Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. In honor of its 80th anniversary, the Guggenheim has selected more than 170 modern works from its permanent collection to exhibit in Frank Lloyd Wright’s celebrated rotunda. Visionaries: Creating a Modern Guggenheim will explore not only avant-garde innovations from the late-19th through mid-20th centuries, but also the ambitious contributions of six patrons who brought to light some of the most significant artists of their day.
PROVKR members can enjoy some of the best of this exhibition here, above and below.
Dancers in Green and Yellow (ca. 1903), by Edgar Degas. Pastel and charcoal on several pieces of tracing paper, mounted to paperboard, 98.8 x 71.5 cm. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
The Guggenheim Foundation’s collection was shaped through major acquisitions from contemporaries who shared Solomon R. Guggenheim’s pioneering spirit. These include a group of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and early School of Paris masterworks from Justin K. Thannhauser (1892–1976); the eclectic Expressionist inventory of émigré art dealer Karl Nierendorf (1889–1947); the incomparable holdings of abstract and Surrealist painting and sculpture from self-proclaimed “art addict” Peggy Guggenheim (1898–1979), Solomon’s niece; and key examples from the estates of artists Katherine S. Dreier (1877–1952) and the German-born Hilla Rebay (1890–1967), both pivotal figures in promoting modern art in America. Below are photographs of these six key collectors.
Solomon R. Guggenheim at the Plaza Hotel, New York, c. 1937, with Rudolf Bauer’s Andante (from Tetraptychon: Symphony in Four Movements, 1926–30). Photo: Underwood and Underwood Studios, New York, courtesy HvRF Archives.
Katherine S. Dreier in the Société Anonyme collection exhibition at the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, January 13–February 23, 1942. Courtesy Katherine S. Dreier Papers/Société Anonyme Archive, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Dreier Papers/Société Anonyme Archive).
Karl Nierendorf holding a Mexican sculpture, 1934. Courtesy Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.
Justin K. Thannhauser in his private residence, New York, November 1957, with Pablo Picasso’s Fernande With a Black Mantilla (1905–06), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum). Courtesy ZADIK.
![Little French Girl (The First Step [III]) (c. 1914–18), Constantin Brancusi. Oak, 152.4 x 38.7 x 32.4 cm. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. Photo: David Heald.](https://provokr.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Brancusi_LittleFrenchGirl.jpg)
