Films on the construction of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Collection Overview

The films on the construction of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum were created and collected as documentation of the construction of, opening of, and early exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (SRGM).

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW) and located at 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, the SRGM opened to the public on October 21, 1959 after nearly 15 years of planning, building, and tribulations. Although now recognized as an unparallel marvel of modernist architecture, when the SRGM was built its design was widely disputed with some calling it, "ahead of its time," and, "the most beautiful building in America," and others questioning its validity as an art museum. Some went so far as to compare the structure to an old-fashioned washing machine. The film "Building and Crowds" documents the large crowds that gathered at the SRGM in its opening months.

While the SRGM was being planned, FLW designed a temporary structure, the Wright Pavilion, located at the corner of 89th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York, NY. In 1953, the Pavilion housed the then traveling exhibition, "Sixty Years of Living Architecture." The building of the Pavilion is the subject of the film,"Wright Pavilion Construction," which shows FLW overseeing the building process and the exhibition, "Sixty Years of Living Architecture", is theorized to be the subject of the film, "Wright Pavilion Interior (Leacock Models), No. 38." The Pavilion was demolished mid-1956.

Ground was broken on the site of the SRGM on August 16th, 1956. The films "Guggenheim Museum Construction" and "Guggenheim Museum Construction Edited" capture the entire process beginning with the removal of artwork from the townhouse at 1071 5th Avenue where the SRGM was previously located to the construction of the SRGM designed by FLW.

One of the major issues surrounding the realization of FLW's spiral vision was the question of its stability and the designs need to break building codes. In 1958, a doorman for a nearby building commented to the New York Times, "It's a fine building. I know every steel rod of it – watched it from the ground up. First, they put wood around it, then they poured concrete inside, then they took the wood down. The building is solid – hell and damnation won't tear it down." For his part, FLW speculated that building would survive even an atomic bomb saying, "It would just bounce up and down in the blast, like a mighty spring." This process of implementing various materials to build the structure is closely documented in "Guggenheim Museum Construction." Noted documentarian Richard Leacock served as cameraman and, through the use of time lapse technique; he shows the viewers of this short film each intricate layer of materials that went into building.

While the project was plagued by myriad problems relating to the physical structure, following the resignation of Director Hilla Rebay (HVR), who had solicited FLW to create the building, conflict arose between FLW and HVR's replacement, James Johnson Sweeney (JJS). They disputed about several aspects of the plan, with JJS expressing significant concern about how the building could effectively exhibit artworks. The film "Unidentified Early Guggenheim Exhibition" contains footage of a multi-artist permanent collection exhibition that took place shortly after the opening of the SRGM and shows the unique way JJS exhibited artwork within the distinctive space.

The films received preservation and reformatting in 2005-2006 due to a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation. Documentation related to the collection includes camera logs from Richard Leacock, two still images from the films, the grant application, film inspection reports, and preservation history.

Scope and Content Note

Folder List