Whether or not you know anything about fine art, you’ve probably heard the word Guggenheim thrown around before.
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Guggenheim is synonymous with great art thanks to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.
To make a long and boring story short, let me catch you up. The Guggenheims are a wealthy Jewish-American family that struck it big in mining in the late 1800s and into the early 1900s.
They made a lot of money—as in, so much money that generations since haven’t had to work. In fact, they’ve been desperate to figure out what to do with all that cash. Solomon Guggenheim, born in 1861 and witness to his family’s sudden rise in wealth, took a liking to fine art.
He began an extensive collection with the help of a like-minded art fan and baroness, Hilla von Rebay. The pair worked together in the 1930s to flip Solomon’s private collection into a museum with the goal of bringing fine art to the masses in an affordable, accessible way.
In 1943, they contracted Franky Lloyd Wright to design an over-the-top art museum smack in the center of New York City, which the pair would use as their future headquarters. Unfortunately, Solomon passed in 1949, never seeing the modernist building open to the public, which was finished in 1959.
You’d likely recognize it from photos of Fifth Avenue, where it’s maintained its iconic status. If not, here’s what you need to know about the world’s three active Guggenheim Museums, along with the fourth that’s set to open in Abu Dhabi.
Where are the Guggenheim museums located?
There are three active Guggenheim museums open now in New York City, USA, Bilbao, Spain, and Venice, Italy. A fourth is set to open in Abu Dhabi, UAE, but has experienced extensive delays.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, aka The Guggenheim
Upper East Side, New York City (Opened 1959)
Completed in 1959, this landmark architectural work is a work of art on its own—no need to head inside, especially if you’re a Frank Lloyd Wright fan. But let’s dig in a little deeper. What type of art did Guggenheim envision in his namesake museum? Originally, he set up the museum under the title ‘Museum of Non-Objective Painting’, which should clue you in.
Guggenheim loved abstract art. Inside, it hosts a permanent collection of his favorite Impressionist, Modern, Contemporary, and Post-Impressionist pieces.
The most famous pieces that are permanently housed inside are:
- Pablo Picasso works, including ‘Mandolin and Guitar’
- Vasily Kandinsky works, including ‘Black Lines’
- Paul Gauguin’s ‘In the Vanilla Grove, Man and Horse’
- Jackson Pollock’s ‘Alchemy’
Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Venice, Italy (Opened 1951)
Located right on the Grand Canal in a renovated 18th-century palace, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection isn’t a traditional museum. When it first opened in 1951, the goal was to seasonally showcase Peggy Guggenheim’s private modern art collection, especially works by Italian and American futurists. (Peggy is Solomon’s niece.)
Since Peggy’s death, the museum has changed hands. In 2017, Peggy’s granddaughter, Karole Vail, took over the role of curator. Previously, she had run the Guggenheim in New York City.
The most famous pieces that are permanently housed inside are:
- Pablo Picasso’s ‘The Poet’
- Macel Duchamp’s ‘Sad Young Man on a Train’
- Albert Gleizes’s ‘Woman with Animals’
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Bilbao, Spain (Opened 1997)
Similar to the New York City Guggenheim, the Bilbao located is a work of art on its own. In fact, it’s considered one of the 12 Treasures of Spain, and is only one of two modern works to make the list. Built in 1997 by Frank Gehry, the organic, contemporary architecture has become synonymous with the city itself. It’s also one of the country’s largest art museums.
The Guggenheim in Bilbao specializes in temporary exhibits along with its permanent collection, which regularly draw in hundreds of thousands of visitors and critics. In fact, the Bilbao Guggenheim is the most-visited Guggenheim in the world.
The most famous pieces that are permanently housed inside are:
- Louise Bourgeous’s ‘Maman’ (one)
- Mark Rothko’s ‘Untitled’
- Yves Klein’s ‘Large Blue Anthropometry [Ant 105]’
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi, UAE
With work on the site begun in 2011 and more major delays as of early 2025, the Abu Dhabi Guggenheim has seen extensive road blocks. Much of the delay is down to the grand, larger-than-life museum complex, along with issues with construction contracts.
Though the Abu Dhabi Tourism department slated the opening for this year, it looks like a long shot. But what can you expect when the museum does finally open?
According to the Guggenheim Foundation, the goal is to support and showcase modern fine art from West Asia, South Asia, and North Africa. Additionally, exhibits and permanent works will be chosen with regard to Islamic law and culture.
