Weekly highlights of objects of interest found in five Guggenheim archive collections can now be viewed on Guggenheim.org.
Since September 2009, project staff, as part of a detailed processing grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), has been examining the records of the museum’s first three directors, along with the complete Exhibition records from 1939 to 1987 and the Reel to Reel collection consisting of audiotapes of lectures and symposia from 1952 to 1990.
In processing these five archive collections, the staff has unearthed records ranging from photographs and letters to catalogue inscriptions and lecture transcripts, providing unique insight into the shaping of the Guggenheim Foundation and its evolution throughout the first fifty years of its history.
Highlighted objects of interest, or “findings,” include a color-coded diagram by founding director Hilla Rebay, depicting her theories on the elements and composition of nonobjective art; a contact sheet showing images of staff moving into the building and setting up the museum as architect Frank Lloyd Wright intended, with administrative offices located in the Monitor building (now known as the Thannhauser Gallery); and a photograph of Dwight D. Eisenhower presenting the Guggenheim International Award to Joan Miró in 1959.
www.guggenheim.org
