An Afternoon at The Guggenheim

Yesterday afternoon I spent two hours at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on a blate with Caroline of Perpetually Caroline.   Visiting the museum is on my 101 in 1001 list and I was excited I was able to do so  on a blogging date. We started off the date at brunch at 83 1/2 on the Upper East Side where we each enjoyed the Salmone Affumicato alla Benndiect, which I highly recommend, yum! 

While I love museums I really appreciated Caroline was  go-with the flow from the moment we walked in the door. As a rising senior at Stamford she was able to use her university ID and did not mind that I did as well, even though I have long since graduated.  We planned brunch and our afternoon to arrive at the Guggenheim for the 2pm tour.   Well, little did I know the “highlights” tour was actually the architecture tour. We listened to the first five minutes in the rotunda and when the tour guide brought the group outside into the 86°F  humid afternoon we simply did not follow.  

Before we bailed though we learned aew interesting facts about the Frank Lloyd Wright designed building:  the building is 100 feet high, 1/4 of a mile and exactly the same height as Westminster Abby, you can not see any art from the lobby, and the circular design is meant to symbolize a spiritual, zen journey. 

After we politely skipped out we took the museum up on their offer  and got free headsets, which were actually iPods in a protective case with the Guggenheim’s app.  We took the elevator to the seventh floor,  started at the top of the ramp, and wound down the six loops. 

We were not able to take photographs of the art so instead I have taken direct files from the museums website here, which actually are better then the photos I would have taken . My three favorite pieces in the museum were all from of the Thannhauser Collection on the second floor: 

 The Palazzo Ducale, seen from San Giorgio Maggiore, by Claude Monet

Landscape with Snow by Vincent van Gogh

Before the Mirror by Édouard Manet  

Those three works of art?  Those are my types of paintings, as were most of the items in the Thannhauser Collection,  but I tried to go into the museum with an open mind. During our exploration there were two other works of art that I appreciated.  I would not necessarily want them in my house but they were visually pleasing: 

Speeding Motorboat by Benedetta (Benedetta Cappa Marinetti) 

Street Light by Giacomo Balla

The exhibit that is going on right now is Italian Futurism and besides the two works above most works of art did not get more than a ten second, once-over.  Most of the pieces; paintings, drawings, sculptures, and installations I just looked at and shook my head.  Then when I got to this plant growing in a wheelbarrow I gave up.  This is art?  My mom has a hydrangea growing in wheel barrel at their house in Cape Cod and I think it is much prettier than this one. 

Overall, I had a great time exploring the museum with Caroline! 

To finish off our trip we had some delicious gelato from the famous cart right outside the museum.  On the ridiculously hot day it was a much needed treat, plus it served as a reward for all of our hard work looking at art, of course. 

The Guggenheim Museum was interesting, I crossed it off my list, but I do not think I need to return any time soon.  

Thanks Caroline, what a fun blate!