Metropolitan Museum of Art

by Arthipo Author | 9 April 2023 | History of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, known as the MET, is New York’s largest and most comprehensive art museum and one of the world’s foremost art museums. The museum was founded in 1870 and opened two years later. Located at its current location in Central Park, the building complex opened in 1880.

​Metropolitan Museum of Art History, Artifacts

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s earliest roots date back to Paris, France in 1866, when a group of Americans agreed to build a “national institution and art gallery” to bring arts and arts education to the American people. The lawyer who proposed the idea, John Jay, quickly resumed the project on his return from France to the United States. Under Jay’s presidency, the Union League Club in New York has brought civic leaders, businessmen, artists, art collectors, and philanthropists to the cause. On April 13, 1870, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was established and opened to the public in the Dodworth Building at 681 Fifth Avenue. On November 20 of the same year, the Museum purchased its first object, a Roman sarcophagus. In 1871, 174 European paintings by Anthony van Dyck, Nicolas Poussin, and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo entered the collection.
On March 30, 1880, after a brief move to the Douglas Mansion at 128 West 14th Street, the Museum opened to the public at its current location at Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street. Architects Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mold designed the first Ruskinian Gothic structure, whose west facade is still visible in the Robert Lehman Wing. The building has since expanded greatly, and several additions built as early as 1888 now completely surround the original structure.
The museum’s collection continued to grow throughout the rest of the 19th century. The purchase of the Cesnola Cyprus art collection between 1874-76, works from the Bronze Age to the end of the Roman period, helped establish The Met’s reputation as an important repository of classical antiquities. When the American painter John Kensett died in 1872, 38 of his canvases arrived at the Museum, and in 1889 the Museum acquired two works by Édouard Manet.
The Beaux-Arts Fifth Avenue façade and Great Hall of the Museum, designed by architect and founder Museum Trustees Richard Morris Hunt, opened to the public in December 1902. The Evening Post reports that New York finally has a neoclassical art palace. It is one of the best in the world and in recent years the only public building that has approached the museums of the old world with dignity and grandeur.”
By the 20th century, the Museum had become one of the largest art centers in the world. In 1907 the Museum purchased a work by Auguste Renoir, and in 1910 The Met became the first public institution in the world to receive a work of art by Henri Matisse. The ancient Egyptian hippo figurine “William”, which is now the Museum’s unofficial mascot, entered the collection in 1917. Today, nearly all of the Museum’s 26,000 ancient Egyptian objects are on display, the largest collection of Egyptian art outside of Cairo. By 1979, the Museum had five of less than 35 known paintings by Johannes Vermeer, and now 2,500 European paintings from The Met, making up one of the largest collections in the world. The American Wing now houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of American painting, sculpture and decorative art.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum Architectural Structure, Interiors

The main building facing Fifth Avenue, designed by Richard Morris Hunt, was completed in 1902 and has been named “The Met Fifth Avenue” as of 2016. McKim, Mead, and White designed some later additions. The American section, added in 1924, included the 1823 marble façade salvaged from the destroyed U.S. Branch Bank on Wall Street. The rest of the 20th-century additions were completed by the architectural firm Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates. Robert Lehman Wing (1975) with Old Masters, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works; The Sackler Wing of the Temple of Dendur (1978), which houses an Egyptian-issued monument; the American Wing (1980), a four-acre addition wrapped around the old section and containing the largest collection of American art in the world; the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing (1982), featuring African, Oceanian, and American arts; Lila Acheson Wallace Wing (1987), displaying modern art; and Henry R. Kravis Wing (1990), which includes sculpture and decorative arts in Europe until the 20th century. One of the most comprehensive collections of its kind, “Art of the Arab lands, a renovated and redesigned group of 15 galleries featuring Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and later South Asia opened in 2011. The Met has expanded its Modern and contemporary art programs to a Marcel Breuer-designed building on East 75th Street and Madison Avenue (the former location of the Whitney Museum of American Art). The “Met Breuer” was designed to host exhibitions and performances on 20th and 21st century art, artist commissions and residencies, and educational programs.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Interiors

Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum Important Artifacts

The Met has significant collections of Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, East Asian pre-Columbian and Middle Eastern, Greek and Roman, European, New Guinea, Islamic and American art, including architecture, sculpture, painting, drawings, calligraphy, prints, photographs, glass, bronzes, ceramics , textiles , metalwork , polish work, furniture, period rooms, weapons and armor and musical instruments.

​Where is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, How to Get there, Directions, Visiting Hours, Entrance Fee

Address: 1000 5th Ave, New York, NY 10028, United States
From Manhattan’s East Side: Subway: Take the 4, 5, or 6 train to 86th Street and walk three blocks west to Fifth Avenue. This walk is about half a mile and takes about 10 minutes. Bus: You can use the M1, M2, M3 or M4 lines.
From the West Side of Manhattan: take the 1 train to 86th Street, then the M86 intercity bus from Central Park to Fifth Avenue, or take the C train to 81st Street, then the M79 bus from Central Park to Fifth Avenue .
From Penn Station: Take the M4 bus to 83rd Street and Madison Avenue.
Sunday–Tuesday and Thursday: 10:00–17:00 Friday and Saturday: 10:00–21:00
Wednesday Closed
Entrance to the museum is by time ticket or reservation only and the capacity is limited.

Queen Sofia National Museum of Art

by Arthipo Author | 9 April 2023 | History of Art

The Queen Sofia National Art Museum is a contemporary art museum in Madrid, the capital of Spain, where 20th century artworks are exhibited. Opened in 1990, the museum has a collection of more than 22,400 works. It is divided into three chapters covering the 20th century, entitled Raids of the 20th Century.

Queen Sofia National Museum of Art, ​Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía History, Architectural Structure, Works

When the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia opened its doors in 1990, it stood as a modern, contemporary Spanish museum of international scale. However, his building went through many difficulties to achieve this goal.
King II. Felipe first established the San Carlos Hospital, the current headquarters of the museum, in the sixteenth century. It was here that all the hospitals scattered across the court were centralized. In the eighteenth century, III. Carlos decided to build another hospital as these facilities did not meet the city’s needs. The current building is the work of architects José de Hermosilla and Francisco Sabatini, who were responsible for much of its construction.
The death of Carlos III in 1788 brought the building’s construction to a halt. Although only a third of Sabatini’s project was completed, the hospital was set up and operational as originally planned.
From this date on, various changes and additions were made until the hospital was closed in 1965. Its functions have been transferred to the Madrid Provincial Health Service. Despite many rumors of demolition, due to its historical and artistic value, the building’s survival was guaranteed when it was declared a national monument by royal decree in 1977.
Restoration began in 1980 under the direction of Antonio Fernández Alba and in April 1986 the Reina Sofia Art Center was opened. The ground and first floors were used as temporary exhibition galleries. Towards the end of 1988, architects José Luis Iñiguez de Onzoño and Antonio Vázquez de Castro made final changes, for which the three steel and glass elevator towers designed in collaboration with British architect Ian Ritchie deserve special attention.
Museo Reina Sofia, an autonomous organization under the Spanish Ministry of Culture, was created by Royal Decree 535/88 of May 1988. Headquartered at the San Carlos Hospital, the Collection consisted of artifacts preserved by the Spanish at that time. Contemporary Art Museum. On September 10, 1992, His Majesty King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia inaugurated the Permanent Collection of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, which until then held only temporary exhibitions. Now a true museum, the goals of the museum – as stated in the above-mentioned decree – are to preserve, expand and display its collections; promoting the public’s knowledge and access to contemporary art in its various manifestations; to organize exhibitions at international level and to offer education, training and evaluation activities related to their holdings.

Queen Sofia National Museum of Art Interior

​Queen Sofia National Art Museum Architectural Structure, Interiors

Reina Sofia Museum, II. It is housed in a neoclassical building located in Atocha, formerly a hospital facility (Hospital San Carlos) from the 16th century when Philip decided to centralize the various hospitals scattered throughout the Palace. In the 18th century, Charles III expanded the building, working with architects José de Hermosilla and, above all, Francisco Sabatini.
The building underwent various modifications and additions until the hospital was closed in 1965. After it was declared a Historic-Art Monument in 1977, restoration work began in 1980. In 1986, the Reina Sofia Art Center was opened, the 1st and 2nd floors hosted temporary exhibitions. The latest changes were made at the end of 1988, including the creation of three glass and steel elevator shafts designed by British architect Ian Ritchie.
The Permanent Collection opened on September 10, 1992 and officially became a museum.
The museum was expanded between 2001 and 2005 by architect Jean Nouvel to create a larger exhibition space, as well as to add a library and an auditorium.
The museum has two other locations in Madrid, the Velázquez Palace and the Crystal Palace, both located in Retiro Park, that host temporary exhibitions and art installations created for these spaces.
It is divided into three chapters covering the 20th century, entitled Raids of the 20th Century.
Utopia and Conflict (1900-1945), Is the War Over? Art in a Divided World (1945-1968) and From Rebellion to Postmodernity (1962-1982).
The museum’s dynamic curatorial program offers six or more simultaneous exhibitions, including solo exhibitions by important emerging artists, as well as provocative engagements with issues that have shaped international art over the past 100 years.

​Queen Sofia National Art Museum Interior (2)

Queen Sofia National Museum of Art Important Artifacts

Here, the country’s most respected painters such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró are showcased, as well as other international legends.
Among the great masterpieces on display is Guernica, Picasso’s legendary testament to the tragedies of the Spanish Civil War.
Clyfford Still – 1951-D , PH 131, George Brecht – Perchero, Juan Gris – Anis Bottle,
Philip Guston – Confrontation are highlights in the collection.

Where is Queen Sofia National Art Museum, How to Get there, Directions, Visiting Hours, Entrance Fee

Address: Calle de Santa Isabel 52 – Madrid 28012 Spain
By metro from Estación del Arte (formerly Atocha) (L1), Lavapiés (L3) stations
You can reach by train from Madrid-Atocha – RENFE station.
Open Wednesday – Monday 10:00 – 21:00 Sunday 10:00 – 19:00.
It is closed on public holidays and Tuesdays.
The entrance fee is 10 Euros, free for children under 18, the elderly, students, the disabled, the unemployed, teachers and journalists.

Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao)

by Arthipo Author | 9 April 2023 | History of Art

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a modern art museum located in the city of Bilbao, in the Basque Country region of Spain. Spreading over an area of 11,000 square meters, the museum is one of the five museums of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, an American foundation.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation collects, preserves and interprets modern and contemporary art, exploring cross-cultural ideas through educational initiatives and collaborations. With a constellation of architecturally and culturally diverse museums, exhibitions, publications and digital platforms, the foundation brings together both local and global audiences.

The Guggenheim Museum, opened in 1997, is a modern art museum that truly left its mark on the city, making Bilbao what it is today. Located by the river with its eye-catching design, the museum is one of the first stops for more than one million visitors a year.

Guggenheim Museum History, Architecture, Artifacts

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation was established in 1937, and the Museum of Non-Objective Painting opened in 1939, its first venue in New York to display art. With exhibits of Solomon Guggenheim’s somewhat eccentric art collection, the gallery designed by William Muschenheim at the behest of the unconventional Foundation’s curator and director of the museum, Hilla Rebay, offers many visitors the wonderful works of Vasily Kandinsky and Rudolf Bauer, Alice Mason, Otto Nebel, and Rolph Scarlett. The need for a permanent building to house the Guggenheim’s art collection emerged in the early 1940s, and in 1943 famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright received a commission to design a museum in New York. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opened on October 21, 1959.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is dedicated to promoting understanding and appreciation of modern and contemporary art through exhibitions, educational programs, research initiatives and publications. Guggenheim international constellation of museums, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and future Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Guggenheim Museum Architecture, Interiors

Plans for a new museum in Bilbao date back to the late 1980s, when the Basque Administration began to formulate a major redevelopment in the area. It wasn’t until 1991, however, that Basque authorities proposed the idea for the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. As we progressed through the museum, a site was chosen and three architects—Arata Isozaki from Japan, Coop Himmelb(l)au from Austria, and Frank O. Gehry from the United States—were invited to participate in a competition. design. There were no requirements for drawings or models to be produced; instead, the architects were asked to present only what they thought would reflect their concept for the new museum.

From the moment it opened in 1997, Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao has been hailed as one of the most important buildings of the 20th century, with its distinctive titanium curves and towering glass atrium. Gehry’s use of cutting-edge computer-aided design technology enabled him to bring poetic forms into reality. The resulting architecture is sculptural and expressive, with spaces unlike any other for the presentation of art. The museum is seamlessly integrated with the urban context, revealing interconnected shapes of stone, glass and titanium in a 32,500 square meter space along the Nervión River in the city’s former industrial centre.

Eleven thousand square meters of exhibition space are distributed to nineteen galleries. Ten of these galleries have a classical orthogonal plan and can be distinguished from the outside by their stone cladding. Nine other irregularly shaped galleries offer remarkable contrast and are externally identifiable by their swirling forms and titanium coatings. The largest gallery, 30 meters wide and 130 meters long, was used for temporary exhibitions for several years. In 2005 it became the site of Richard Serra’s monumental installation The Matter of Time, the largest sculpture commission in history. At one end of the museum area crosses La Salve Bridge, which has supported Daniel Buren’s Arcos rojos / Arku Gorriak sculpture since 2007.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is the pinnacle of Gehry’s distinguished architectural career as well as museum design. It is unique in the integration of art and architecture, maintaining an aesthetic and programmatic unity.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Interiors

Guggenheim Museum Notable Artifacts

The Matter of Time (Richard Serra), LED installations by Jenny Holzer, works by Eduardo Chilliada, Seascape (Gerard Richter), The Renowned Orders Of The Night (Anselm Kiefer), Large Blue Anthropometry (Yves Klein), One Hundred and Fifty Multicolored Marilyns (Andy Warhol)

Where is Guggenheim Museum, How to Get There, Directions, Visiting Hours, Entrance Fee

Address: Abandoibarra Etorbidea, 2. 48009 Bilbao, Bizkaia

It is easily accessible in Bilbao’s city centre.

Lines 1, 10, 13, 18 and A7 can be used by bus,

The metro can be reached within walking distance from Moyua station.

The museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 to 20:00, other days of the week from 11:00 to 19:00, it will be closed on 25 December and 1 January.

The entrance fee is 15 Euros, children under 12 are free.