Exhibition records
Scope and Content Note
The Exhibition records document exhibitions organized between 1936 and 2000 by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (SRGF). The SRGF operates the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (SRGM), which was originally known as the Museum of Non-Objective Painting (MNOP). Exhibitions are arranged chronologically by exhibition number. Exhibition numbers have been assigned by Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum staff and can be referenced in the publication "Art of This Century: The Guggenheim Museum and Its Collection." Exhibitions organized by the SRGM for presentation at other institutions are denoted by a T, which follows the exhibition number. Unnumbered exhibitions have been placed chronologically according to opening date among the numbered exhibitions; the duration of unnumbered exhibition is noted in parenthesis to whatever extent it is known. Cancelled and unrealized exhibitions also appear chronologically, placed at the approximate time period when they would have been held. Records pertaining to two or more exhibitions can be found after the first exhibition to which they pertain. Exhibition related materials spanning many years and not specific to a single or a few exhibitions can be found in Series 1. General. Unidentified exhibitions, for which no description or approximate date is known, can also be found in Series 1. There are no known records for SRGM organized exhibitions which do not appear in the folder list; exhibitions organized by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection are not included in this collection. Additional records for each exhibition may be located in the collection of the exhibition creator, either the curator or museum director.
Series 2. Museum of Non-Objective Painting includes traveling exhibitions of Solomon R. Guggenheim's art collections organized between 1936 and 1939 and exhibitions organized after the opening of the Museum of Non-Objective Painting in June 1939 until the official name change of the museum to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in October 1952. The exhibitions included in Series 2 coincide with the directorship of Hilla Rebay. Series 3. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum contains records pertaining to exhibitions organized after the official name change of the museum, which occurred in October of 1952. Exhibitions in Series 3 coincide with the directorships of James Johnson Sweeney, Thomas M. Messer and Thomas Krens. Series 4. Guggenheim Museum SoHo contains records of exhibitions held at the Guggenheim Museum SoHo at 575 Broadway in lower Manhattan between 1992-2001. Exhibitions in Series 4 coincide with the directorship of Thomas Krens.
The collection was assembled by past archives staff. Records for each exhibition may include audio guides; exhibition catalogues; brochures; checklists; correspondence with curators, artists and other institutions; exhibition related event information; loan and lender information; legal contracts; financial documents; installation diagrams; newspaper and magazine clippings; photographs; public relations documents; research on artists and artwork; traveling exhibition documents including exhibition ephemera from other institutions; shipping information; and wall lists. Information related to the production of exhibition catalogues can be found under catalogue information. A distinction is made between internal and published checklists; some internal checklists are restricted. There is also a distinction made between published checklists and brochures, which usually contain a short essay or introduction. If the brochure also contains a list of works found in the exhibition, it is listed as a brochure with checklist. Information pertaining to the production of brochures can be found under brochure information. Occasionally material related to the production of published checklists is also available and is found with the published checklist folders. Photographs may include prints, negatives, 35mm slides or transparencies. Photobooks consist of images of artwork compiled during the planning of an exhibition; photobooks containing lender information are restricted. Information related to the showing of an exhibition at other institutions in addition to its showing at the SRGM can be found under traveling exhibition information for that exhibition. All conservation, loan, legal, and shipping documents and some financial documents are restricted, as well as records produced for internal use which are less than 25 years old.
Select published checklists, brochures with checklists, and wall lists from the collection have been digitized and are available to view online through links in the folder list below. Additional digitized highlights from the collection can be seen at https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/category/findings/.
Dates
- Creation: 1917-2001 (bulk 1936-2000)
Language of Materials
Collection is primarily in English.
Restrictions:
The collection is partially restricted. Please contact the Director of the Library and Archives for further information.
Publication Rights:
Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Director of the Library and Archives.
Historical Note
The art collection of Solomon R. Guggenheim (SRG) was first presented in a museum setting in 1936 at the Gibbes Memorial Art Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina. Following a number of traveling exhibitions between 1936 and 1939 at various museums and galleries around the country, the Museum of Non-Objective Painting (MNOP) opened to the public on June 1, 1939. It was located at 24 East 54th Street, the first of its temporary locations. Hilla Rebay (HR), who first met SRG in 1927 and served as his art advisor, was the museum's first director. Under HR, the museum exclusively exhibited works of non-objective art. The term 'non-objective' refers to abstract, non-representational art and is a translation of the German 'gegenstandslos,' which literally means "without objects." For HR, non-objective painting had a spiritual and cosmic dimension. Early exhibitions organized by HR included those of the permanent collection and loan exhibitions. Artist such as Vassily Kandinsky, Rudolf Bauer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Rolph Scarlett, Jean Xceron, Charles G. Shaw, and HR were often featured in group exhibitions. Kandinsky and Moholy-Nagy were also subjects of memorial exhibitions in the late 1940s.
In 1948 the MNOP moved to a townhouse at 1071 Fifth Avenue. Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW) was commissioned to design a museum building for the townhouse's lot in 1943, and the building opened to the public on October 21, 1959. While exhibitions under HR's tenure were typically installed in carpeted galleries with walls covered in pleated grey fabric, upon her departure in 1952, exhibitions began to be regularly installed against plain white. With the opening of the FLW building, the curved walls of the new museum space posed both challenges and opportunities for curators and artists alike, and with the rise of site-specific work in the 1970s, the architecture of the building itself served as a catalyst for numerous works of art displayed at the SRGM.
After HR's resignation on March 29, 1952, James Johnson Sweeney (JJS) was appointed museum director on October 15, 1952. Shortly after, on October 27, 1952 the name of the museum was officially changed to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (SRGM) to commemorate SRG who died in 1949. JJS broadened the scope of exhibitions held at the museum. Under his directorship, the museum exhibited a wider range of painting than it had under HR, and for the first time, sculpture assumed a prominent place in the museum's curatorial program. The exhibitions "Younger European Painters" (1953) and "Younger American Painters" (1954) showcased emerging artists associated with Art Informel and Abstract Expressionism respectively, and in 1955, solo exhibitions were given to the sculptors Constantin Brancusi and Alberto Giacometti. The Guggenheim International Awards, later the Guggenheim International Exhibitions, was first held under JJS's directorship in 1956.
Thomas M. Messer (TMM) was appointed museum director in January of 1961, further increasing the scope of SRGM scope exhibitions. Under TMM's direction, exhibitions such as "The Emergent Decade: Latin American Painters and Painting in the 1960's" (1965-1966) expanded the international focus of the museum. TMM also negotiated the acquisition of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and early modern works from the collection of Justin K. Thannhauser (JKT), which greatly expanded the range of works included in permanent collection exhibitions. On view at the museum as loans from 1965 to 1976, the collection formally entered the museum's holdings upon the death of JKT in 1976. In 1969, the SRGM exhibited Peggy Guggenheim's collection, and in 1979, the Guggenheim established an international presence with the transfer of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (SRGF).
In 1988, Thomas Krens (TK) succeeded TMM as director. Under TK, the Guggenheim increased the number of exhibitions it organized as well as the breadth of its operations. In 1992 the Guggenheim Museum SoHo opened in downtown Manhattan, and in 1996 it began to focus its programming on art and technology. The Guggenheim Museum SoHo closed in 2001, the same year in which the Guggenheim Foundation expanded its international presence with the opening of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, in partnership with the Basque Government, and the Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin, in partnership with Deutsche Bank. Also in 2001, the now defunct Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, operated in conjunction with the State Hermitage Museum, opened in Las Vegas. Exhibitions for affiliated museums are organized by SRGF staff in New York.
Biographical / Historical
- 1927 Hilla Rebay (HR) meets Solomon R. Guggenheim in September, becoming his art advisor soon after
- 1936 The first museum exhibition of Solomon R. Guggenheim's art collection takes place at the Gibbes Memorial Art Gallery from March to April
- 1937 The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (SRGF) is formed on June 25
- 1939 The Museum of Non-Objective Painting (MNOP) opens to the public on June 1 at its first temporary location at 24 East 54th Street in New York
- 1948 MNOP moves into second temporary location, a townhouse at 1071 5th Avenue
- 1952 HR resigns as director on March 29; James Johnson Sweeney (JJS) is appointed director of the MNOP on October 15; MNOP is renamed the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (SRGM) on October 27
- 1959 Frank Lloyd Wright designed SRGM building opens on October 21; "Inaugural Selection" is the first exhibition held in the new museum building
- 1960 JJS resigns as SRGM director effective August 15
- 1961 Thomas M. Messer (TMM) is appointed director of the SRGM in January
- 1988 TMM retires as SRGM and Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (SRGF) director effective June 30; Thomas Krens (TK) is appointed director of SRGF effective July 1
- 2008 TK resigns as director on February 28; Richard Armstrong is appointed director of SRGF effective November 4
Chronology
- 1927
- Hilla Rebay (HR) meets Solomon R. Guggenheim in September, becoming his art advisor soon after
- 1936
- The first museum exhibition of Solomon R. Guggenheim's art collection takes place at the Gibbes Memorial Art Gallery from March to April
- 1937
- The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (SRGF) is formed on June 25
- 1939
- The Museum of Non-Objective Painting (MNOP) opens to the public on June 1 at its first temporary location at 24 East 54th Street in New York
- 1948
- MNOP moves into second temporary location, a townhouse at 1071 5th Avenue
- 1952
- HR resigns as director on March 29; James Johnson Sweeney (JJS) is appointed director of the MNOP on October 15; MNOP is renamed the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (SRGM) on October 27
- 1959
- Frank Lloyd Wright designed SRGM building opens on October 21; "Inaugural Selection" is the first exhibition held in the new museum building
- 1960
- JJS resigns as SRGM director effective August 15
- 1961
- Thomas M. Messer (TMM) is appointed director of the SRGM in January
- 1988
- TMM retires as SRGM and Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (SRGF) director effective June 30; Thomas Krens (TK) is appointed director of SRGF effective July 1
- 2008
- TK resigns as director on February 28; Richard Armstrong is appointed director of SRGF effective November 4
Extent
189.3 cubic ft. (562 boxes)
Abstract
The art collection of Solomon R. Guggenheim was first presented in a museum setting in 1936. Following a number of traveling exhibitions, the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, under the directorship of Hilla Rebay (HR), opened to the public in June of 1939. During HR's tenure as director, the museum exclusively organized exhibitions of non-objective art, but with the appointment of James Johnson Sweeney as director in 1952, the museum began exhibiting both representational and abstract painting, and for the first time, sculpture assumed a prominent place in the museum's curatorial program. With the appointment of Thomas M. Messer as director in 1961, the scope of exhibitions at the museum further expanded to include a wider array of international artists as well as works of art from the late nineteenth century.
Abstract
The Exhibition records, compiled by past archives staff, document exhibitions organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, originally named the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, between 1936 and 2000. The efforts of museum departments in planning and executing exhibitions are documented in this collection. Records include audio guides; exhibition catalogues; brochures; checklists; correspondence with curators, artists and other institutions; exhibition related event information; loan and lender information; legal contracts; financial documents; installation diagrams; newspaper and magazine clippings; photographs; public relations documents; research on artists and artwork; traveling exhibition documents including exhibition ephemera from other institutions; shipping information; and wall lists.
Arrangement:
Organized into 3 series: 1. General; 2. Museum of Non-Objective Painting; 3. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; 4. Guggenheim Museum SoHo.
Physical Location
CF
Bibliography
- Art of This Century: The Guggenheim Museum and Its Collection. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 1993.
- Art of Tomorrow: Hilla Rebay and Solomon R. Guggenheim. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2005.
- The Guggenheim: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Making of the Modern Museum. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2009.
- Vail, Karole, ed. The Museum of Non-Objective Painting: Hilla Rebay and the Origins of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2009.
- Title
- Exhibition records
- Status
- Complete
- Author
- Initial finding aid (thru 1987) prepared by NHPRC grant project staff in June 2011. Updates to finding aid prepared by Archives Staff
- Date
- 2012
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Sponsor
- The processing and select digitization of this collection was generously funded in part by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
Repository Details
Part of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives Repository
One Liberty Plaza
24th floor
New York NY 10006
