“Architecture is the frame of life,” the museum’s architect Frank Lloyd Wright once said.
The Guggenheim is one of the oldest and most visited collections of modern art in the world, and also one of the most beautiful museums in the United States.
Criticism from the Public
But it wasn’t always admired. For many years the public rejected the building, accustomed to museums that looked classical and monumental. Some people even compared the Guggenheim to an upside-down washing machine.
Amusingly, Wright never hesitated to defend his vision and once remarked that, in comparison to his creation, the Metropolitan Museum looked like a barn.
Today, with its iconic spiral design, the Guggenheim is among the top five most visited museums in New York—behind only The Met, MoMA, the Museum of Natural History, and the 9/11 Museum.
The Guggenheim in Film
In “Men in Black” (1997), the chase scene involving an alien was filmed inside the Guggenheim. Agent J (Will Smith) pursues the criminal Edgar up the museum’s spiral ramp, which adds dramatic motion to the sequence.
📍 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum / 1071 5th Ave, New York, NY 10128
Right next to the museum is the excellent (and free) gallery Salon 94, which makes a perfect pairing for a visit.
