Editing Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (section)

== History ==

=== Early years and Hilla Rebay ===
[[Solomon R. Guggenheim]], a member of a wealthy mining family, began collecting works of the [[old masters]] in the 1890s.<ref name=artdaily/> In 1926, he met artist [[Hilla von Rebay]],<ref name=artdaily>[http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=31711&int_modo=2 "Exhibition of Works Reflecting the Evolution of the Guggenheim's Collection Opens in Bilbao"], artdaily.org, 2009. Retrieved April 18, 2012.</ref><ref name=Stern808>{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=808}}</ref> who introduced him to European [[avant-garde]] art, in particular abstract art that she felt had a spiritual and utopian aspect ([[non-objective art]]).<ref name=artdaily /> Guggenheim completely changed his collecting strategy, turning to the work of [[Wassily Kandinsky]], among others. He began to display his collection to the public at his apartment in the [[Plaza Hotel]] in New York City.<ref name=artdaily /><ref name=past>[http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/hilla_rebay/biographies_2.html "Biography: Solomon R. Guggenheim"], Art of Tomorrow: Hilla Rebay and Solomon R. Guggenheim, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved March 8, 2012.</ref><ref name=Loebl283>{{harvnb|Loebl|2002|p=283|ps=.}}</ref> Guggenheim and Rebay initially considered building a museum at [[Rockefeller Center]] in [[Manhattan]].<ref name=Stern808/> As the collection grew, Guggenheim established the [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation]], in 1937, to foster the appreciation of [[modern art]].<ref name=Stern808/><ref name=past /><ref name=Krens8>{{harvnb|Krens|1993|p=8|ps=.}}</ref>

[[File:Albert Gleizes, 1915, Composition pour Jazz, oil on cardboard, 73 x 73 cm, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.jpg|thumb|left|225px|[[Albert Gleizes]], 1915, ''[[Composition for "Jazz"]]'', oil on cardboard, 73 × 73&nbsp;cm]]
The foundation's first venue, the '''Museum of Non-Objective Painting''', opened in 1939, under Rebay's direction, at 24 East 54th Street in midtown Manhattan.<ref name=Stern808/><ref name=Krens8/>{{sfn|Vail|2009|pp=25, 36}} Under her guidance, Guggenheim sought to include in the collection the most important examples of non-objective art by early modernists.<ref name=artdaily /><ref name=past /><ref name=Calnek>Calnek, Anthony, et al. ''The Guggenheim Collection'', pp. 39–40, New York: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 2006</ref> He wanted to display the collection at the [[1939 New York World's Fair]] in [[Queens]], but Rebay advocated for a more permanent location in Manhattan.<ref name=Stern808/> By the early 1940s, the foundation had accumulated such a large collection of avant-garde paintings that the need for a permanent museum was apparent,<ref name=Gughistory>{{Cite web |url=https://www.guggenheim.org/history |title=Guggenheim Foundation History |date=February 29, 2016 |website=Guggenheim |access-date=October 21, 2019}}</ref> and Rebay wanted to establish it before Guggenheim died.<ref name=Stern808/>

==== Design process ====
In 1943, Rebay and Guggenheim wrote a letter to [[Frank Lloyd Wright]] asking him to design a structure to house and display the collection.<ref name=Pfeiffer5>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|p=5}}</ref>{{sfn|Vail|2009|p=333}} Rebay thought the 76-year-old Wright was dead, but Guggenheim's wife Irene Rothschild Guggenheim knew better and suggested that Rebay contact him.<ref>{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|pp=808–809}}</ref> Wright accepted the opportunity to experiment with his "organic" style in an urban setting, saying that he had never seen a museum that was "properly designed".<ref name=NYCLint7>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission Interior|1990|ps=.|p=7}}</ref> He was hired to design the building in June 1943.<ref name=Pfeiffer5/><ref name=Stern807>{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=807}}</ref><ref name=Stern809>{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=809}}</ref> He was to receive a 10 percent [[Commission (remuneration)|commission]] on the project, which was expected to cost at least $1 million.<ref name=Stern809/> It took him 15 years, more than 700 sketches and six sets of working drawings to create and complete the museum, after a series of difficulties and delays;<ref>{{cite web |title=Guggenheim Architecture |url=https://www.guggenheim.org/history/architecture |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501233616/http://www.guggenheim.org/history/architecture |archive-date=May 1, 2016 |access-date=August 13, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|pp=807–808}}</ref> the cost eventually doubled from the initial estimate.<ref name=nytCost>{{Cite news |date=April 4, 1952 |title=Art Museum Plan 5th Ave. Filed; Cylindrical Building Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright to Cost $2,000,000 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/04/04/archives/art-museum-plan-5th-ave-filed-cylindrical-building-designed-by.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Rebay envisioned a space that would facilitate a new way of seeing modern art. She wrote Wright that "each of these great masterpieces should be organized into space, and only you ... would test the possibilities to do so. ... I want a temple of spirit, a monument!"<ref>''The Guggenheim: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Making of the Modern Museum'', pp. 217–18, New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2009</ref>{{sfn|Levine|1996|p=299}} Critic [[Paul Goldberger]] later wrote that Wright's modernist building was a catalyst for change, making it "socially and culturally acceptable for an architect to design a highly expressive, intensely personal museum. In this sense almost every museum of our time is a child of the Guggenheim."<ref>{{cite web |title=55 Years Ago Tuesday: Guggenheim Museum Officially Opens |website=CBS News |date=October 22, 2014 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/55-years-ago-tuesday-guggenheim-museum-officially-opens/ |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref> The Guggenheim is the only museum Wright designed; its urban location required him to design it in a vertical rather than horizontal form, far different from his earlier, rural works.<ref name=Storrer401/> Since he was not licensed as an architect in New York, he relied on Arthur Cort Holden, of the architectural firm Holden, McLaughlin & Associates, to deal with New York City's [[New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings|Board of Standards and Appeals]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dal Co |first=Francesco |title=The Guggenheim: Frank Lloyd Wright's Iconoclastic Masterpiece |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0300226058 |location=New Haven |pages=58 |oclc=969981835}}</ref>

[[File:Double spiral and helicoidal flight staircase at the entrance to the Vatican Museums designed by Giuseppe Momo 1932..jpg|thumb|[[Bramante Staircase|Staircase]] at the [[Vatican Museums]] designed by [[Giuseppe Momo]] in 1932]]
From 1943 to early 1944, Wright produced four differing designs. One had a hexagonal shape and level floors for the galleries, though all the others had circular schemes and used a ramp continuing around the building.<ref name=McCarter310>{{harvnb|McCarter|1997|p=310|ps=.}}</ref><ref name=Hitchcock1981>{{cite book |last1=Hitchcock |first1=Henry-Russell |title=Arquitectura de los siglos XIX y XX |date=1981 |publisher=Ediciones Cátedra |location=Madrid |isbn=9788437624464 |page=477 |edition=6th}}</ref>{{Efn|Wright had experimented with a ramp design as early as 1924, when he had drawn plans for a visitor center at [[Sugarloaf Mountain (Maryland)|Sugarloaf Mountain]] in Maryland, which was never built.<ref name=Pfeiffer6/> He later used the ramp design at the [[V. C. Morris Gift Shop]] in San Francisco, completed in 1948, and at the [[David and Gladys Wright House]] in Arizona, which he completed for his son in 1952.<ref name=Hitchcock1981/>}} In his notes, he indicated that he wanted a "well proportioned floor space from bottom to top—a wheel chair going around and up and down".<ref name=NYCLint7/><ref name=Stern809/><ref name=Pfeiffer6>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|p=6}}</ref> His original concept was called an inverted "[[ziggurat]]", because it resembled the steep steps on the ziggurats built in ancient [[Mesopotamia]].<ref name=NYCLint7 /><ref name=Storrer401/> Several architecture professors have speculated that the helical ramp and glass dome of [[Giuseppe Momo]]'s [[Bramante Staircase#The modern staircase|1932 staircase]] at the [[Vatican Museums]] was an inspiration for Wright's ramp and atrium.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tanzj |first1=Daniela |last2=Bentivegna |first2=Andrea |date=July 23, 2015 |title=The Vatican Museums and the Guggenheim: Two Ingenious Spirals of Art |url=http://www.lavocedinewyork.com/en/2015/07/23/the-vatican-museums-and-the-guggenheim-two-ingenious-spirals-of-art |journal=La Voce di New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hersey |first1=George L. |title=High Renaissance art in St. Peter's and the Vatican: an interpretative guide |date=1993 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226327822 |location=Chicago |page=[https://archive.org/details/highrenaissancea0000hers/page/128 128]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mindel |first1=Lee F. |date=February 28, 2013 |title=Compares the Oculi at the Vatican and the Guggenheim Museum |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/lee-mindel-vatican-guggenheim-museum-frank-lloyd-wright |journal=Architectural Digest}}</ref>

==== Site selection and announcement of plans ====
Wright expected that the museum would be in [[lower Manhattan]].<ref name=McCarter308>{{harvnb|McCarter|1997|p=308|ps=.}}</ref> Instead, in March 1944, Rebay and Guggenheim acquired a site on Manhattan's [[Upper East Side]], at the corner of [[89th Street (Manhattan)|89th Street]] and the [[Museum Mile, New York|Museum Mile]] section of [[Fifth Avenue]], overlooking [[Central Park]].<ref name=Stern809/><ref>{{Cite news |date=March 21, 1944 |title=Ultra-Modern Museum to Rise in 5th Ave. To House Non-Objective Art Collection |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/03/21/archives/ultramodern-museum-to-rise-in-5th-ave-to-house-nonobjective-art.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=NPS19>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=19}}</ref> They considered numerous locations in Manhattan, as well as the [[Riverdale, Bronx|Riverdale]] section of the Bronx, overlooking the [[Hudson River]].<ref name=Stern809/><ref name=Ballon>{{harvnb|Ballon|2009|pp=22–27}}</ref> Guggenheim felt that the Fifth Avenue site's proximity to Central Park was important, as the park afforded relief from the noise, congestion and concrete of the city.<ref name=Storrer401>{{harvnb|Storrer|2002|pp=400–01}}</ref> Wright's preliminary sketches fit the site nearly perfectly, although the site was about {{convert|25|ft}} narrower than what Wright anticipated.<ref>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|pp=11, 21}}</ref> Guggenheim approved Wright's sketches in mid-1944.<ref name=Stern809/> Wright called the planned building an "Archeseum ... a building in which to see the highest".<ref name=NPS19/><ref name=NYCL8>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|p=8}}</ref>

Wright's designs were announced in July 1945,<ref name=NPS19/> and the museum was expected to cost $1 million and be completed within a year.<ref name="nyt-1945-07-10">{{Cite news |date=July 10, 1945 |title=Museum Building to Rise as Spiral; New Guggenheim Structure Designed by F.L. Wright Is Called First of Kind |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/07/10/archives/museum-building-to-rise-as-spiral-new-guggenheim-structure-designed.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The structure's main feature was a main gallery with a helical ramp, surrounding a [[lightwell]] with a skylight.<ref name="nyt-1945-07-10" /><ref>{{cite news |date=July 10, 1945 |title=Wright Designs Bizarre 5th Av. Art Museum: His First Building in City, on Novel Lines, to House Guggenheim Collection |page=7 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1337120835}}}}</ref> Guests would board an elevator to reach the top; a second, steeper ramp would serve as an emergency exit.<ref name=Stern809/> There would be a movie theater in the basement, an elevator tower topped by an observatory, and a smaller building featuring a smaller theater,<ref name=Pfeiffer21>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|p=21}}</ref> in addition to storage space, a library and a cafe.<ref name="nyt-1945-07-10" /><ref name=NYCLint8>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission Interior|1990|ps=.|p=8}}</ref> Preliminary plans also included apartments for Guggenheim and Rebay, but these plans were scrapped.<ref name=Pfeiffer21/> Guggenheim acquired an additional parcel of land on 88th Street that July.<ref name=Stern811>{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=811}}</ref> Wright built a model of the museum at [[Taliesin (studio)|Taliesin]], his home in Wisconsin,<ref>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|pp=21, 25}}</ref> and displayed it at the Plaza Hotel that September.<ref>{{cite news |date=September 21, 1945 |title=Frank Lloyd Wright Shows Plan Of a Fifth Avenue Art Museum |page=34 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1287100423}}}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1945-09-21">{{Cite news |date=September 21, 1945 |title=Model is Unveiled of New Museum Here; Spiral-shaped Art Center Proposed for the City |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/09/21/archives/model-is-unveiled-of-new-museum-here-spiralshaped-art-center.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==== Difficulties ====
The building's construction was delayed, first because of material shortages caused by World War II,<ref name=Stern811/><ref name="New York Herald Tribune 1946"/> then by increasing construction costs after the war.<ref name=Pfeiffer21/><ref name=Stern811/> By late 1946, Guggenheim and Rebay had redesigned the basement theater to accommodate concerts.<ref name="New York Herald Tribune 1946">{{cite news |date=November 5, 1946 |title=Wright Details How Museum Will Blend Arts: Construction on Circular Building of Non-Objective Painting Starts in Spring |page=27 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1287185430}}}}</ref> Rebay and Wright disagreed over several aspects of the design, such as the means by which the paintings were to be mounted,<ref name=Stern811/><ref>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission Interior|1990|ps=.|pp=7–8}}</ref> although they both wanted the design to "reflect the unity of art and architecture".<ref name=NPS23>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=23}}</ref> Wright continued to modify his plans during the late 1940s, largely because of concerns over the building's lighting, and created another model of the museum in 1947.<ref name=Pfeiffer25>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|p=25}}</ref> The collection was greatly expanded in 1948 through the purchase of art dealer [[Karl Nierendorf]]'s estate of some 730 works.<ref name=Calnek/>

Progress remained stalled through the late 1940s,<ref name=Stern812>{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=812}}</ref> and William Muschenheim renovated an existing townhouse on the site, at 1071 Fifth Avenue, for the museum's use.<ref name=Stern812 /><ref name=NPS22>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=22}}</ref> Guggenheim's health was in decline, but he refused Wright's offer to downsize the planned building so it could be completed during Guggenheim's lifetime.<ref name=Pfeiffer25/> After Guggenheim died in 1949, members of the [[Guggenheim family]] on the foundation's board of directors had personal and philosophical differences with Rebay.<ref name=Rebaybio>[http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/hilla_rebay/biographies_1.html "Biography: Hilla Rebay"], Art of Tomorrow: Hilla Rebay and Solomon R. Guggenheim, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved March 8, 2012.</ref> Under Rebay's leadership, the museum had become what [[Aline B. Saarinen]] described as an "esoteric, occult place in which a mystic language was spoken".<ref name="nyt-1954-05-30">{{Cite news |last=Saarinen |first=Aline B. |date=May 30, 1954 |title=Lively Gallery for Living Art; Manhattan's Guggenheim is off to an exuberant new start as a showcase for pioneers who 'open up a different corner of vision' |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/05/30/archives/lively-gallery-for-living-art-manhattans-guggenheim-is-off-to-an.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=NPS15>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=15}}</ref> Some of the museum's staff and trustees wished to oust Rebay and cancel Wright's design.<ref name=Stern812 /><ref name=NPS22/> Wright, however, persuaded several members of the Guggenheim family to acquire additional land on Fifth Avenue so his design could be developed in full.<ref name=Stern812/><ref>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|pp=22–23}}</ref>

To accommodate the growing collection, in August 1951 the Guggenheim Foundation acquired an apartment building at 1 East 88th Street to remodel for museum use.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 5, 1951 |title=Non-Objective Art Museum Plans to Grow: Remodeling of Apartment Building Will Allow More Paintings To Be Shown |page=24 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1322198382}}}}</ref><ref name="Newsday 1951">{{cite news |date=August 13, 1951 |title=Guggenheim Fund Buys Exhibit Site |page=6 |work=Newsday |id={{ProQuest|873053656}}}}</ref> It now owned a continuous frontage on Fifth Avenue from 88th to 89th Street.<ref name="Newsday 1951"/><ref name=Pfeiffer29>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|p=29}}</ref> This prompted Wright to redesign the new building yet again, proposing a multi-story annex with apartments behind the museum.<ref name=Stern812/><ref name=Pfeiffer29/><ref name=NPS23/> The foundation also announced that the museum would start exhibiting "objective" works of art, as well as older artwork.<ref name=NPS15/><ref>{{Cite news |date=August 5, 1951 |title=Museum Changing Exhibition Policy; Guggenheim Foundation Will Show Old Masters as Well as Non-Objective Works |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/08/05/archives/museum-changing-exhibition-policy-guggenheim-foundation-will-show.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Rebay, who disagreed with this policy, resigned as director of the museum in March 1952.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 30, 1952 |title=Miss Rebay Quits as Head Of Non-Objective Museum |page=9 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1313587133}}}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1952-03-30">{{Cite news |last=Louchheim |first=Aline B. |date=March 30, 1952 |title=Museum Will File Plans for Building; Changes Made by Non-Objective Painting Institution – Hilla Rebay Is Director Emeritus |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/03/30/archives/museum-will-file-plans-for-building-changes-made-by-nonobjective.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Nevertheless, she left a portion of her personal collection to the foundation in her will.<ref name=cork>[http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/museums/guggenheim-new-york.htm "Guggenheim Museum New York"], ''Encyclopedia of Art'', visual-arts-cork.com. Retrieved April 18, 2012.</ref> Shortly after Rebay resigned, Wright filed plans for the building, which was now projected to cost $2 million.<ref name=nytCost/> It was renamed the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1952.<ref name=Rebaybio/>

=== Sweeney era ===
[[James Johnson Sweeney]] was appointed the museum's director in October 1952.<ref name="nyt-1952-10-15">{{Cite news |date=October 15, 1952 |title=New Director Appointed By Guggenheim Museum |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/10/15/archives/new-director-appointed-by-guggenheim-museum.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=October 15, 1952 |title=James J. Sweeney Heads Guggenheim Museum |page=27 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1320022316}}}}</ref> He expanded the foundation's collecting criteria, rejecting Rebay's dismissal of "objective" painting and sculpture,<ref name=Krens11a>{{harvnb|Krens|1993|p=11|ps=.}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1954-05-11">{{Cite news |date=May 11, 1954 |title=Museum Points Up Change in Policy; Display of American Art Due at Guggenheim Departs From 'Non Objective' |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/05/11/archives/museum-points-up-change-in-policy-display-of-american-art-due-at.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and started exhibiting some of the works placed in storage under Rebay's leadership.<ref name=NPS15/><ref>{{harvnb|Krens|1993|pp=11–12|ps=.}}</ref> In 1953, the museum hosted a retrospective of Wright's work, "Sixty Years of Living Architecture",<ref name=NPS26>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Louchheim |first=Aline B. |date=October 4, 1953 |title=Frank Lloyd Wright Talks of His Art; And takes a retrospective look at a lifetime of architectural innovation. |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/10/04/archives/frank-lloyd-wright-talks-of-his-art-and-takes-a-retrospective-look.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> in a temporary pavilion Wright had designed.<ref name=Pfeiffer33/><ref name=Stern812/>

==== Construction and opening ====
[[File:Guggenheim Museum construction LOC gsc.5a25494.jpg|thumb|300px|Photo of the construction, November 12, 1957]]
Sweeney and Wright had a strained relationship, as they disagreed over basic elements of the museum's plan.<ref name=Stern812/><ref name="NPS pp. 23–24">{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|pp=23–24}}</ref> Sweeney, who believed its architecture should be subservient to the art, forced Wright to redesign it to accommodate more offices and storage facilities.<ref name="NPS pp. 23–24"/> The building's lighting was a significant point of contention between them.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Glueck |first=Grace |author-link=Grace Glueck |date=April 15, 1986 |title=James Johnson Sweeney Dies; Art Critic and Museum Head |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/15/obituaries/james-johnson-sweeney-dies-art-critic-and-museum-head.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=Stern814>{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=814}}</ref> The [[New York City Department of Buildings]] (DOB) also rejected Wright's application for a construction permit in 1953 because the design did not meet building codes.<ref name="nyt-1959-04-10">{{Cite news |date=April 10, 1959 |title=Only Commission in New York Was Guggenheim Art Museum |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/04/10/archives/only-commission-in-new-york-was-guggenheim-art-museum.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Wright tasked Holden with ensuring that the design met codes<ref>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|pp=25–26}}</ref> and published revised drawings in 1954 and 1956.<ref>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|pp=29, 33}}</ref> Museum staff nevertheless complained that Wright's design did not provide enough storage or laboratory space.<ref name="nyt-1959-04-10" /> To save money, he modified the design again in 1955, though these savings were canceled out by increasing construction costs.<ref name=Stern814/>

Four general contractors submitted bids in late 1954,<ref name=Stern814/> and the foundation ultimately hired the Euclid Construction Corporation.<ref name="Newsday 1956">{{cite news |date=May 8, 1956 |title=Start Guggenheim Museum Job in NY |page=4 |work=Newsday |id={{ProQuest|879069229}}}}</ref><ref name=Pfeiffer33>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.| p=33}}</ref> The museum rented the [[Oliver Gould Jennings House]] at 7 East 72nd Street and relocated there before construction began.<ref name=Stern814/> On May 6, 1956, demolition of the site's existing buildings began.<ref name="Newsday 1956"/><ref>{{cite news |date=May 7, 1956 |title=Guggenheim Museum by Frank Lloyd Wright Is Begun |page=A10 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327080364}}}}</ref> The DOB issued a construction permit on May 23,<ref name=Stern814/> and work on the museum began on August 14.<ref name=Pfeiffer33 /><ref name=Stern814/> Wright opened an office in New York City to oversee the construction, which he felt required his personal attention, and appointed his son-in-law [[William Wesley Peters]] to supervise the day-to-day work.<ref name=Stern812/><ref name=Pfeiffer33/> In practice, neither Wright nor Peters visited the site frequently, so Holden's William Short ended up managing the project.<ref name=Stern814/>

Sweeney wanted the new museum to allow "building up a collection which offers up a standard of judgment".<ref name="nyt-1956-11-18">{{Cite news |last=Ashton |first=Dore |date=November 18, 1956 |title=Museum; Director of Guggenheim Discusses His Plans An Ambitious Program |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/11/18/archives/museum-director-of-guggenheim-discusses-his-plans-an-ambitious.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He wanted to change the color scheme, level out the sloping walls and remove the clerestory windows, which led to prolonged disputes with Wright.<ref name=NPS25/><ref name=Stern816/><ref name=Pfeiffer34>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|pp=34–35}}</ref> By early 1958, [[Harry F. Guggenheim]] had to handle all communications between Sweeney and Wright, who would not speak to each other.<ref name=Stern816>{{harvnb|Stern| Mellins|Fishman|1995| ps=.| p=816}}</ref> The building [[topped out]] in May 1958,<ref>{{cite magazine |date=June 1958 |title=Window Leaks Overcome |url=https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1958-06.pdf |magazine=Architectural Forum |volume=102 |page=11}}</ref><ref name=Stern815>{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=815}}</ref> and the scaffolding on the facade was removed by that August.<ref name=Stern815/><ref>{{cite news |date=August 31, 1958 |title=Guggenheim Museum Progresses |page=R2 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|114561749}}}}</ref> Meanwhile, Wright published drawings of the design in several architectural magazines, as he feared the design would be compromised after his death.<ref name=Stern816/><ref name=NPS25>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=25}}</ref> Against his request, Sweeney painted the walls white and hung paintings from metal bars instead of placing them directly on the walls.<ref name=NPS25/><ref name=Pfeiffer34/> The building was Wright's last major work; he died in April 1959, six months before its opening.<ref name=time>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071013163633/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,892851,00.html "Art: Last Monument"]. ''Time''. November 2, 1959.</ref>

The building [[Soft launch|soft-opened]] for members of the media on October 20, 1959.<ref name=Stern816/> It was formally dedicated the next day,{{sfn|Spector|2001|p=16}}<ref name="nyt-1959-10-22">{{Cite news |last=Knox |first=Sanka |date=October 22, 1959 |title=New Art Museum Is Dedicated Here |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/10/22/archives/new-art-museum-is-dedicated-here-dedication-fete-held-at-museum.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="Bird 1959">{{cite news |last=Bird |first=Robert S. |date=October 22, 1959 |title=600 an Hour See Guggenheim Museum: Thrilled, Puzzled, Angered by Frank Lloyd Wright Structure |page=18 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1328041965}}}}</ref> drawing 600 visitors per hour.<ref name="Bird 1959"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Wood |first=Francis |date=October 22, 1959 |title=Guggenheim Art Museum Draws Crowds, Praise |page=4 |work=Newsday |id={{ProQuest|898127716}}}}</ref> Its design was generally able to accommodate the retrospectives and temporary exhibits that it hosted over the years.<ref name=Loebl283/>

===Messer era===
Sweeney resigned as the museum's director in July 1960, citing philosophical differences with the board of trustees,<ref>{{cite news |last=Lyle |first=David |date=July 21, 1960 |title=Guggenheim Museum Head Quits: Sweeney Resigns as Director, Issue Unrevealed |page=1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327113702}}}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1960-07-21">{{Cite news |last=Knox |first=Sanka |date=July 21, 1960 |title=Guggenheim Museum Director Resigns in Difference of 'Ideals'; Sweeney Revised Wright's Design for Building Before Opening Last October |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/07/21/archives/guggenheim-museum-director-resigns-in-difference-of-ideals-sweeney.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and H. H. Arnason took over as temporary director.<ref name=NPS15/><ref name="nyt-1960-12-07">{{Cite news |date=December 7, 1960 |title=Guggenheim Fund Names Trustee |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/12/07/archives/guggenheim-fund-names-trustee.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He launched "the first survey of Abstract Expressionism in a New York museum" during his brief time as director.<ref name=NPS15/><ref name=Krens19>{{harvnb|Krens|1993|p=19|ps=.}}</ref> [[Thomas M. Messer]], director of the [[Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston|Boston Institute of Contemporary Art]], succeeded Sweeney as director in January 1961; he worked under Sweeney, who continued to run the foundation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Knox |first=Sanka |date=January 31, 1961 |title=Guggenheim Picks Museum Director; Thomas Messer, Head of Boston Institute, Named to Art Post Here |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/01/31/archives/guggenheim-picks-museum-director-thomas-messer-head-of-boston.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=O'Neill |first=Maureen |date=January 31, 1961 |title=Name Boston Art Expert Director of Guggenheim |page=4 |work=Newsday |id={{ProQuest|898266255}}}}</ref> Messer stayed for 27 years, the longest tenure of any director of a major New York art institution.{{sfn|Kumar|2011|loc=chapter: "Thomas Messer"}} Under his leadership, the museum's collection expanded significantly.<ref name=NPS16>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|pp=15–16}}; {{harvnb|Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum|1993|ps=.|p=20}}</ref> The collection pivoted toward more contemporary artists, including those from Europe and Latin America,<ref name=NPS16/> and expanded in scope to become "New York's second museum of modern art".<ref name="n162068271">{{Cite news |last=Armstrong |first=Kiley |date=1987-11-22 |title=NYC's Guggenheim Museum celebrates 50 years of art |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-journal-news-nycs-guggenheim-museum/162068271/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=The Journal News |pages=120 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> Messer was not considered "an especially controversial director", though he also did not adhere to "the blockbuster school of exhibiting".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weber |first=Bruce |date=May 16, 2013 |title=Thomas M. Messer, Museum Director Who Gave Guggenheim Cachet, Dies at 93 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/arts/design/thomas-m-messer-guggenheim-museum-director-dies-at-93.html |access-date=October 20, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==== 1960s ====
[[File:Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum skylight.jpg|thumb|left|The skylight in the center of the museum]]
When Messer joined the Guggenheim, the museum's ability to present artworks was still doubted because of the tilted and curved walls.<ref name=Russell1987a>{{Cite news |author-link=John Russell (art critic) |last=Russell |first=John |date=November 5, 1987 |title=Director of Guggenheim Retiring After 27 Years |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/05/arts/director-of-guggenheim-retiring-after-27-years.html |access-date=June 22, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Almost immediately after becoming director, in 1962, he put on a large exhibition that combined the Guggenheim's paintings with [[sculpture]]s on loan from the [[Hirshhorn Museum|Hirshhorn collection]].<ref name=Russell1987a/> In particular, there were difficulties installing three-dimensional sculptures because the slope of the floor and the curvature of the walls could combine to produce vexing optical illusions.<ref name=Canaday1962>{{Cite news |last=Canaday |first=John |date=August 17, 1962 |title=Museum Director Solves Problem; Guggenheim Official Faces Troubles of Architecture |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/08/17/archives/museum-director-solves-problem-guggenheim-official-faces-troubles.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Though the combination proved generally to work well in the Guggenheim, Messer recalled that, at the time, "I was scared. I half felt that this would be my last exhibition."<ref name=Russell1987a/> He had staged a smaller sculpture exhibition the previous year, where he learned how to compensate for the space's unusual geometry by constructing special [[plinth]]s at a particular angle, but this was impossible for one piece, an [[Alexander Calder]] [[Mobile (sculpture)|mobile]] whose wire inevitably hung at a true [[Plumb bob|plumb]] vertical.<ref name=Canaday1962/>

After Messer acquired a private collection from art dealer [[Justin Thannhauser]] in 1963,<ref name="Spiegler 1963">{{cite news |last=Spiegler |first=William |date=October 24, 1963 |title=Museum Will Get Major Art Collection |page=5 |work=Newsday |id={{ProQuest|913630157}}}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1963-10-24">{{Cite news |last=Canaday |first=John |date=October 24, 1963 |title=Guggenheim Gets Major Art Works; Gift Will Eventually Bring 34 Picassos to Museum |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/10/24/archives/guggenheim-gets-major-art-works-gift-will-eventually-bring-34.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> the Guggenheim hired Peters to renovate the monitor's second floor.<ref name=Pfeiffer37>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|p=37}}</ref><ref name=NYCL12/> Thannhauser's collection was displayed within the monitor after the renovation was completed in 1965.<ref name=NYCL12>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|p=12}}</ref>{{sfn|Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum|1993|p=22}} The foundation auctioned off artwork from the 15th and 16th centuries, which was incompatible with the museum's modern-art collection.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 27, 1962 |title=Guggenheim Art to Be Auctioned; Works of Old Masters Will Be Sold in London June 27 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/05/27/archives/guggenheim-art-to-be-auctioned-works-of-old-masters-will-be-sold-in.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Rebay, who died in 1967, bequeathed over 600 artworks to the Guggenheim, although the museum did not receive the collection until 1971.<ref name="nyt-1971-05-15">{{Cite news |date=May 15, 1971 |title=Guggenheim Acquires 250 Works of Modern Art |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/15/archives/guggenheim-acquires-250-works-of-modern-art.html |access-date=October 6, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> To raise money for further acquisitions, such as the works in Rebay's collections, the Guggenheim also sold off some modern artwork, including several Kandinsky works.<ref name="nyt-1971-08-16">{{Cite news |last=Canaday |first=John |date=August 16, 1971 |title=Guggenheim Will Auction 47 Works by Kandinsky |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/08/16/archives/guggenheim-will-auction-47-works-by-kandinsky.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

To accommodate the expanding collection, in 1963, the Guggenheim announced plans for a four-story annex,<ref name="nyt-1963-10-10">{{Cite news |date=October 10, 1963 |title=Guggenheim Files Plans for an Annex On 13-Foot Stilts |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/10/10/archives/guggenheim-files-plans-for-an-annex-on-13foot-stilts.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> which the [[New York City Board of Standards and Appeals]] approved the next year.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 16, 1964 |title=Guggenheim Museum Will Expand |page=15 |work=Newsday |id={{ProQuest|913627428}}}}</ref> [[William Wesley Peters]] of [[Taliesin Associated Architects]], the successor firm to Wright's practice, designed the addition.<ref name="Goldberger x465">{{cite web |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=February 19, 1985 |title=Guggenheim Museum Plans to Erect an 11-story, $12 Million Addition |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/19/arts/guggenheim-museum-plans-to-erect-an-11-story-12-million-addition.html |access-date=January 2, 2025 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The annex was downsized to two stories in 1966 due to complaints from local residents,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Raymont |first=Henry |date=November 8, 1966 |title=Annex of Museum Cut by 2 Stories; Guggenheim Drops Original Plans Calling for 4 Floors Because of the Cost |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/11/08/archives/annex-of-museum-cut-by-2-stories-guggenheim-drops-original-plans.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and was completed in 1968.<ref name=Pfeiffer37/><ref name="NPS pp. 7–8"/> This freed up space on the main gallery's top two levels, which had been used as workshops and storage space ever since the building opened. Museum officials opened the top levels to the public in 1968.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 7, 1969 |title=The Gallery: Art of Architecture |page=20 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|133395635}}}}</ref>

==== 1970s and 1980s ====
In 1971, with increasing costs and decreasing endowment income, the Guggenheim recorded a large [[Deficit spending|deficit]] for the first time in its history.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 4, 1972 |title=Admission to Guggenheim Raised From 50 Cents to $1 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/01/04/archives/admission-to-guggenheim-raised-from-50-cents-to-1.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Additionally, although Wright had included space for a cafe at the southern end of the museum building, the space was instead used by the conservation and framing departments.<ref name=Pfeiffer37/> The foundation proposed adding a lobby and restaurant in the museum's driveway area in early 1973<ref>{{Cite news |last=Horsley |first=Carter B. |date=February 19, 1973 |title=Guggenheim Museum to Alter Facade |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/19/archives/guggenheim-museum-to-alter-facade-vision-to-be-maintained.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> but had difficulty agreeing on the plans,<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 15, 1973 |title=Guggenheim Museum to Review Plan to Alter Building's Facade |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/04/15/archives/guggenheim-museum-to-review-plan-to-alter-buildings-facade.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> which were revised that November.<ref name="nyt-1973-11-10">{{Cite news |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=November 10, 1973 |title=Guggenheim Modifies Alteration |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/10/archives/guggenheim-modifies-alteration-a-wall-of-glass.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> As part of the project, designed by Donald E. Freed, the museum closed its driveway and added a dining area and bookstore there.<ref name="nyt-1973-11-10" /><ref name="NYCL pp. 12–13"/> Facing a growing deficit and a shortage of exhibit space, the Guggenheim announced in 1977 that it would raise $20 million over the following five years.<ref name="nyt-1977-12-24">{{Cite news |last=Fraser |first=C. Gerald |date=December 24, 1977 |title=Guggenheim Starts Drive to Raise $20 Million |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/24/archives/guggenheim-starts-drive-to-raise-20-million.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Museum officials also planned to expand the annex on 89th Street.<ref name="nyt-1977-12-24" />

Messer became director of the Guggenheim Foundation in 1980 and continued to serve as the museum director, promoting two curators to directorial positions.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 8, 1980 |title=2 Guggenheim Curators Promoted to Directors; 'Seemed Appropriate' |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/11/08/archives/2-guggenheim-curators-promoted-to-directors-seemed-appropriate.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The Guggenheim renovated the Thannhauser wing in the early 1980s.<ref name="nyt-1982-11-28">{{Cite news |last=Russell |first=John |date=November 28, 1982 |title=Art View; a Redesigned Wing Adds Luster to the Guggenheim |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/28/arts/art-view-a-redesigned-wing-adds-luster-to-the-guggenheim.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Following these changes, John Russell of ''The New York Times'' wrote that the Thannhauser Collection "may now be said to be the equivalent of [[Frick Collection|the Frick]] in the domain of modern art."<ref name="nyt-1982-11-28" /> "[[Works & Process]]", a series of performances at the Guggenheim, commenced in 1984.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/works-and-process |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206122056/http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/works-and-process |archive-date=December 6, 2008 |url-status=dead |title=Works & Process |access-date=August 13, 2016}}</ref>

In 1982 [[Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects]] drew up designs for an 11-story annex on 88th Street, behind the existing museum building.<ref name=NYCL13/> The original plan, announced in February 1985,<ref name="Goldberger x465" /><ref name="n162091115">{{Cite news |last=Stevens |first=Elisabeth |date=1985-02-24 |title=N.Y.'s Guggenheim plans $12 million addition |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-nys-guggenheim-plan/162091115/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=The Baltimore Sun |pages=164}}</ref> would have been cantilevered over the existing building.<ref name=NYCL13>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|p=13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=October 10, 1985 |title=An Appraisal; Architecture: a Design for Guggenheim Tower |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/10/arts/an-appraisal-architecture-a-design-for-guggenheim-tower.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The design was downsized to 10 stories in early 1987 due to opposition from local residents.<ref name="nyt-1987-02-11">{{Cite news |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=February 11, 1987 |title=Guggenheim Museum Proposing Scaled-down Design for Addition |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/11/arts/guggenheim-museum-proposing-scaled-down-design-for-addition.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ladd |first=Scott |date=February 11, 1987 |title=Revised Design Proposed for Guggenheim |pages=35 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110706549/revised-design-proposed-for/ |access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref> At the time, the building could only exhibit 150 pieces, about 3 percent of the museum's 5000-work collection.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ladd |first=Scott |date=July 6, 1987 |title=Guggenheim Look Still Arouses Passions |pages=27 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110706437/guggenheim-look-still-arouses/ |access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref> In anticipation of the annex's construction and a wider-ranging renovation of the older building, Gwathmey Siegel also renovated the Thannhauser wing's second floor and the top level of the main gallery's ramp in 1987.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mays |first=Vernon |date=Apr 1989 |title=Revealing Wright |url=https://usmodernist.org/PA/PA-1989-04.PDF |magazine=Progressive Architecture |volume=68 |page=82}}</ref> The Board of Standards and Appeals approved the 89th Street annex that October,<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 21, 1987 |title=Museum Addition Approved |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/21/nyregion/museum-addition-approved.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lippman |first=Barbara |date=October 22, 1987 |title=Museum gets a variance |pages=141 |work=New York Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110706605/museum-gets-a-variancebarbara-lippman/ |access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref> despite continuing opposition.<ref name="nyt-1990-11-28">{{Cite news |last=Glueck |first=Grace |date=November 28, 1990 |title=Guggenheim Withdraws Design Change |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/28/arts/guggenheim-withdraws-design-change.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Messer retired the next month, on the 50th anniversary of the collection's founding.<ref name="nyt-1987-11-05">{{Cite news |last=Russell |first=John |date=November 5, 1987 |title=Director of Guggenheim Retiring After 27 Years |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/05/arts/director-of-guggenheim-retiring-after-27-years.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The [[New York City Board of Estimate]] approved plans for the Guggenheim's annex in 1988,<ref>{{Cite news |last=McGill |first=Douglas C. |date=January 15, 1988 |title=Guggenheim Expansion Plan Upheld |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/15/arts/guggenheim-expansion-plan-upheld.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and the [[New York Supreme Court]] upheld the Board of Estimate's decision.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 23, 1988 |title=Guggenheim Plan Upheld |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/23/arts/guggenheim-plan-upheld.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===Krens era===
[[Thomas Krens]], former director of the [[Williams College Museum of Art]], took over as the director of both the museum and the foundation in January 1988.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McGill |first=Douglas C. |date=January 13, 1988 |title=Guggenheim Names a New Director |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/13/arts/guggenheim-names-a-new-director.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Wallach |first=Amei |date=January 13, 1988 |title=New Director for Guggenheim Museum |page=B9 |work=Newsday |id={{ProQuest|1813318343}}}}</ref> Over his nearly two-decade tenure, he led a rapid expansion of the museum's collections,<ref name="nyt-2008-02-28">{{Cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=February 28, 2008 |title=Provocative Guggenheim director resigns |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/arts/28iht-gugg.1.10523443.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and the museum mounted some of its most popular exhibitions,<ref name=nyt-2005-04-27>{{Cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=April 27, 2005 |title=A Museum Visionary Envisions More |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/27/arts/design/a-museum-visionary-envisions-more.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> including "Africa: The Art of a Continent" in 1996;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cotter |first=Holland |date=June 7, 1996 |title=Art Review; An African Anthology Of Rewarding Objects |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/07/arts/art-review-an-african-anthology-of-rewarding-objects.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> "China: 5,000 Years" in 1998;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Scott |first=Janny |date=April 9, 1998 |title=Need Chinese Art? Call Diplomats; Even Kissinger Aided Guggenheim Negotiations for a Show |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/09/arts/need-chinese-art-call-diplomats-even-kissinger-aided-guggenheim-negotiations-for.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> "Brazil: Body & Soul" in 2001;<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 16, 2001 |title=Travel Advisory; Brazilian Treasures On Loan in New York |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/16/travel/travel-advisory-brazilian-treasures-on-loan-in-new-york.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and "The Aztec Empire" in 2004.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cotter |first=Holland |date=October 15, 2004 |title=A Lost Culture, Drenched in Blood and Beauty |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/15/arts/design/a-lost-culture-drenched-in-blood-and-beauty.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Unusual exhibitions included "[[The Art of the Motorcycle]]", an [[industrial design]] installation of motorcycles.<ref name=Sudjic/><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Plagens |first=Peter |title=Rumble on the Ramps. ('The Art of the Motorcycle', Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York) |date=September 7, 1998 |magazine=Newsweek |volume=132 |issue=10 |page=80 |id={{ProQuest|214306480}}}}</ref> 

{{Anchor|Guggenheim Museum SoHo}}The Guggenheim Museum SoHo, designed by [[Arata Isozaki]], opened in June 1992 at the corner of [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] and Prince Street in [[SoHo, Manhattan]].<ref name="Smith 1992 g499">{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Roberta |title=Review/Art; Guggenheim Reopens on a New Chapter |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 29, 1992 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/29/arts/review-art-guggenheim-reopens-on-a-new-chapter.html |access-date=April 18, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Wallach 1992 f827">{{cite web |last=Wallach |first=Amei |title=A Museum Makeover: New Guggenheim: Big Time, Big Business and Blue Chip |work=Los Angeles Times |issn=0458-3035 |date=June 16, 1992 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-16-ca-4434-story.html |access-date=April 18, 2024}}</ref> The SoHo building's exhibits included ''Marc Chagall and the Jewish Theater'', ''Paul Klee at the Guggenheim Museum'', ''Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective'' and ''Andy Warhol: The Last Supper''.<ref name=nyt-1999-02-05/> It did not meet visitor forecasts<ref name=nyt-1999-02-05>{{cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=February 5, 1999 |title=Inside Art; Guggenheim Shrinks in SoHo |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/05/arts/inside-art-guggenheim-shrinks-in-soho.html |access-date=July 31, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and closed in 2002.<ref name="nyt-2002-06-30"/>
 
==== 1990s ====
[[Image:guggenheim flw show.jpg|thumb|right|325px|An interior view of the museum on a busy day]]
Shortly after becoming director, Krens decided to spend $24 million renovating the Guggenheim.<ref name="nyt-1991-08-12">{{Cite news |last=Glueck |first=Grace |date=August 12, 1991 |title=In Guggenheim Restoration, Wright Laughs Last |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/12/arts/in-guggenheim-restoration-wright-laughs-last.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Work commenced in late 1989. The museum initially remained open,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shepard |first=Joan |date=October 9, 1988 |title=Guggenheim Museum will keep its doors open during restoration work |pages=534 |work=New York Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110707823/guggenheim-museum-will-keep-its-doors/ |access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref> but later closed for 18 months.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wallach |first=Amei |date=April 11, 1990 |title='Obsession' at the Guggenheim |pages=176, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110722938/ 184] |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110722906/obsession-at-the-guggenheimamei/ |access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=April 27, 1990 |title=Guggenheim Museum Closing for 18 Months |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/27/arts/guggenheim-museum-closing-for-18-months.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The monitor wing was restored, the 88th Street wing was converted from a conservation laboratory to a restaurant, and additional exhibition space was created at the top of the main gallery.<ref name="nyt-1991-08-12" /> The 89th Street annex was built as part of this project,<ref name="Wallach 1992 f827"/><ref name="nyt-1990-11-28" /> and the basement was extended under Fifth Avenue.<ref name="nyt-1991-08-122">{{Cite news |last=Glueck |first=Grace |date=August 12, 1991 |title=In Guggenheim Restoration, Wright Laughs Last |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/12/arts/in-guggenheim-restoration-wright-laughs-last.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The windows were replaced and the clerestory windows along the ramp were unsealed and restored to their original design.<ref name="nyt-1991-08-122" /><ref name=Sennott572>{{harvnb|Sennott|2004|ps=.|pp=572–73}}</ref> The building's exhibition space roughly doubled, allowing the museum to show 6 percent of its collection.<ref name="Kimball 1992">{{cite news |last=Kimball |first=Roger |date=July 2, 1992 |title=Leisure & Arts: Rehabbed Guggenheim Museum's Coming-out Party |page=A5 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|135563875}}}}</ref>

The renovation was completed on June 27, 1992.<ref name="nyt-1992-06-28">{{Cite news |date=June 28, 1992 |title=Evening Hours; Guggenheim In a New Light |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/28/style/evening-hours-guggenheim-in-a-new-light.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="McGuigan 1992">{{cite magazine |last=McGuigan |first=Cathleen |date=June 29, 1992 |title=Do the Wright Thing: The Guggenheim Museum reopens, splendidly restored and with a controversial new addition |magazine=Newsweek |volume=119 |issue=26 |pages=58–59, 62 |id={{ProQuest|1879161785}}}}</ref> The museum's offices were moved to the annex, the basement and the former Guggenheim Museum SoHo, and storage space and [[Conservation and restoration of paintings|conservation]] activities were moved to other buildings.<ref name="nyt-1991-08-122" /> The new annex allowed the museum to show more works from its permanent collection, as well as temporary exhibitions.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jermanok |first=Stephen |date=April 17, 1994 |title=New York: Everything Old Is New Again; New York's Master Museums Redesign Themselves |page=E06 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|307730105}}}}</ref> The foundation acquired 200 photographs from [[Robert Mapplethorpe]] in 1992<ref name="nyt-1992-12-04">{{Cite news |last=Hagen |first=Charles |date=December 4, 1992 |title=$5 Million to Foundation by Mapplethorpe Group |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/04/arts/article-113792-no-title.html |access-date=October 6, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="Wallach 1992">{{Cite news |last=Wallach |first=Amei |date=December 4, 1992 |title=$5-Million Mapplethorpe Gift |pages=201 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110808225/5-million-mapplethorpe-giftamei/ |access-date=October 6, 2022}}</ref> and renamed the annex's fourth-floor gallery after him in 1993.<ref name="nyt-1993-12-26">{{Cite news |last=Hagen |first=Charles |date=December 26, 1993 |title=The Year in the Arts: Art & Photography/1993; An Era Ended, a Ghost Haunted the Guggenheim |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/26/arts/year-arts-art-photography-1993-era-ended-ghost-haunted-guggenheim.html |access-date=October 6, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

To finance the renovation and new acquisitions, the foundation sold works by Kandinsky, [[Marc Chagall|Chagall]] and [[Amedeo Modigliani|Modigliani]], raising $47&nbsp;million. This move was controversial, drawing considerable criticism for trading masters for "trendy" latecomers. In ''The New York Times'', critic [[Michael Kimmelman]] wrote that the sales "stretched the accepted rules of [[Deaccessioning#Deaccessioning|deaccessioning]] further than many American institutions have been willing to do."<ref name=Sennott572/><ref name=Kimmelman1998>{{Cite news |last=Kimmelman |first=Michael |date=April 1, 1990 |title=Art View; The High Cost of Selling Art |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/01/arts/art-view-the-high-cost-of-selling-art.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Krens defended the action as consistent with the museum's principles by expanding its international collection and building its "postwar collection to the strength of our pre-war holdings",<ref name=Glueck>{{Cite news |last=Glueck |first=Grace |date=March 5, 1990 |title=Guggenheim May Sell Artworks To Pay for a Major New Collection |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/05/arts/guggenheim-may-sell-artworks-to-pay-for-a-major-new-collection.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and noted that museums regularly conduct such sales.<ref name=Kimmelman1998/> He also expanded the foundation's international presence by opening museums abroad.<ref>Russell, James S. [https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a3nVuX5IVJCE "Guggenheim's Krens Eyes Hudson Yards Museum, Seeks New Bilbaos"], Bloomberg, March 11, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2012.</ref>

Krens was also criticized for his businesslike style and perceived populism and commercialization.<ref name="Sudjic">{{cite news |last=Sudjic |first=Deyan |title=Is this the end of the Guggenheim dream? |work=The Guardian |date=January 23, 2005 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2005/jan/23/art.museums |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=November 27, 1998 |title=For Museums, Bigger Is Better |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB911879208127582000 |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref> One writer commented, "Krens has been both praised and vilified for turning what was once a small New York institution into a worldwide brand, creating the first truly multinational arts institution. ... Krens transformed the Guggenheim into one of the best-known brand names in the arts."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mahoney |first=Sarah |date=October 2, 2006 |title=Thomas Krens |periodical=Advertising Age |volume=77 |issue=40 |page=I-8}}</ref> The museum cut back its operating hours in 1994, causing a 25 percent decline in annual attendance, even as the city's other art museums saw increased attendance.<ref name="Plagens 1996">{{cite magazine |last=Plagens |first=Peter |date=May 20, 1996 |title=In a Spiral: The Guggenheim Museum's controversial director keeps wheeling and dealing. But what's art got to do with it? |magazine=Newsweek |volume=127 |issue=21 |pages=68–70 |id={{ProQuest|1866753762}}}}</ref>

[[Samuel J. LeFrak]] announced in December 1993 that he would donate $10 million, the largest cash donation in the museum's history, with the Fifth Avenue building to be renamed for him and his wife.<ref name="nyt-1993-12-14">{{Cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=December 14, 1993 |title=Guggenheim Honors the LeFraks |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/14/arts/guggenheim-honors-the-lefraks.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Disch |first=Thomas M. |date=December 21, 1993 |title=What's in a Name... |pages=257 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110752500/whats-in-a-namethomas-m-disch/ |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref> The next month, [[Ronald O. Perelman]] announced that he would also donate $10 million.<ref name="nyt-1994-01-20">{{Cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=January 20, 1994 |title=Revlon's Chairman Donates $10 Million to the Guggenheim |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/20/arts/revlon-s-chairman-donates-10-million-to-the-guggenheim.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Snow |first=Shauna |date=January 21, 1994 |title=A $10-Million Present |pages=202 |work=Los Angeles Times |issn=0458-3035 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110753020/a-10-million-presentshauna-snow/ |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref> The [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] (LPC), which had designated the building as a landmark, repeatedly refused to allow officials to place a sign with LeFrak's name outside the building.<ref name="nyt-1994-12-17">{{Cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=December 17, 1994 |title=Clash Over Name Puts Museum Gift in Doubt |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/17/arts/clash-over-name-puts-museum-gift-in-doubt.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Consequently, LeFrak rescinded $8 million of his donation.<ref name="nyt-1994-12-17" /><ref name="Plagens 1996"/> [[Peter B. Lewis]] donated $10 million in 1995<ref>{{cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=October 20, 1995 |title=Trustees come through for the Guggenheim |page=C30 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|109472948}}}}</ref> for the restoration of the museum's auditorium, which was renamed the Peter B. Lewis Theater after the project was completed the next year.<ref name="Plagens 1996"/><ref name="nyt-1998-04-15">{{Cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=April 15, 1998 |title=Guggenheim Announces Record Gift, $50 Million |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/15/arts/guggenheim-announces-record-gift-50-million.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Lewis donated an additional $50 million in 1998, and several other trustees, including Perelman, increased their donations.<ref name="nyt-1998-04-15" />

==== 2000s ====
[[File:Sackler Center for Arts Education entrance view from 5th ave 88th street ramp March 2012.jpg|thumb|left|Students sketching at the entrance to the Engelberg Center]]
The museum opened an arts center in the basement in 2001; originally named for the [[Sackler family]],<ref name=Tu2002>{{cite news |last1=Tu |first1=Jeni |date=February 1, 2002 |title=Higher education meets high art |work=Dance Teacher |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-105841407.html |url-status=dead |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921200330/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-105841407.html |archive-date=September 21, 2014}}</ref> it was renamed the Gail May Engelberg Center for Arts Education in 2022.<ref name=Block2022/><ref name=Donnelly2022/> Also in 2001, as part of a [[Frank Gehry]] retrospective at the museum, Gehry designed a canopy, which was installed outside the fifth floor.<ref name=AR2002June>{{cite magazine |date=June 2002 |title=Guggenheim wants Gehry canopy to be permanent addition |url=https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-2002-06.pdf |magazine=Architectural Record |volume=190 |pages=34}}</ref><ref name="nyt-2001-05-18">{{Cite news |last=Muschamp |first=Herbert |date=May 18, 2001 |title=Architecture Review; Gehry's Vision of Renovating Democracy |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/18/arts/architecture-review-gehry-s-vision-of-renovating-democracy.html |access-date=October 6, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> It remained in place for six years after the retrospective ended.<ref name=AR2002June/><ref name="nyt-2004-06-10" />

By 2004, museum officials were raising $25 million for another restoration of the building and hired [[Swanke Hayden Connell Architects]] to survey it. By then, the structure had developed numerous leaks.<ref name="nyt-2004-06-10">{{Cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=June 10, 2004 |title=Guggenheim Museum Seeks to Restore Its Most Valuable Asset: Itself |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/10/arts/guggenheim-museum-seeks-to-restore-its-most-valuable-asset-itself.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> After architects and engineers determined that the building was structurally sound, renovations began in September 2005 to repair cracks and modernize systems and exterior details.<ref name=Haeyoun>{{cite web |last=Park |first=Haeyoun |title=Face-Lift for an Aging Museum |work=The New York Times Web Archive |issn=0362-4331 |date=April 16, 2007 |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/04/16/arts/17guggenheim-graphic.html |access-date=June 22, 2023}}</ref><ref>Guggenheim Museum web site: [http://www.guggenheim.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3489&Itemid=1476 click link to podcast about restoration (10 MB, audio only, 8 min 45 sec)]</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Pogrebin |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Pogrebin |date=September 10, 2007 |title=The Restorers' Art of the Invisible |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/arts/design/10gugg.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The restoration mainly consisted of exterior and infrastructure upgrades, preserving as many historical details as possible while allowing museum operations to continue.<ref>Guggenheim Museum web site: [http://www.guggenheim.org/restoration.html click link to podcast about restoration (10 MB, audio only, 8 min 45 sec)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928011550/http://www.guggenheim.org/restoration.html |date=September 28, 2007 }}</ref><ref name=AR2006Feb>{{cite magazine |last=Ulam |first=Alex |date=February 2006 |title=Guggenheim spruces up restoration with custom bridge |url=https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-2006-02.pdf |magazine=Architectural Record |volume=194 |pages=34}}</ref> On September 22, 2008, the Guggenheim celebrated the project's completion with the premiere of artist [[Jenny Holzer]]'s tribute ''For the Guggenheim''.<ref name="nyt-2008-09-23">{{Cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=September 23, 2008 |title=Guggenheim Chooses a Curator, Not a Showman |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/arts/design/24muse.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The renovation cost $29&nbsp;million and was funded by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation's board of trustees, the city's [[New York City Department of Cultural Affairs|Department of Cultural Affairs]], the New York state government and MAPEI Corporation.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation |website=The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation |date=August 22, 2008 |url=https://www.guggenheim.org/news/guggenheim-restoration-complete |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref>

Meanwhile, during the early 2000s, Krens was involved in a long-running dispute with Lewis, who was also chairman of the foundation's board of directors.<ref name="nyt-2005-01-21">{{Cite news |last=Pogrebin |first=Robin |date=January 21, 2005 |title=Loyalty Prevails Over Money in Guggenheim Showdown |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/21/arts/design/loyalty-prevails-over-money-in-guggenheim-showdown.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> When admission declined by 60 percent following the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, the museum faced budgetary deficits, as one-quarter of its revenue came from ticket sales.<ref name="nyt-2001-11-20">{{Cite news |last=Bohlen |first=Celestine |date=November 20, 2001 |title=The Guggenheim's Scaled-Back Ambition; A Museum Director's Risk-Taking Approach Gets a New Look in Hard Times |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/20/arts/guggenheim-s-scaled-back-ambition-museum-director-s-risk-taking-approach-gets.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Lewis donated $12 million to the museum in 2002 under the condition that Krens tighten the budget.<ref name="nyt-2002-12-06">{{Cite news |last=Kimmelman |first=Michael |date=December 6, 2002 |title=Critic's Notebook; An Era Ends for the Guggenheim |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/06/arts/critic-s-notebook-an-era-ends-for-the-guggenheim.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=December 5, 2002 |title=Guggenheim gets gift – with string attached |pages=5A |work=Poughkeepsie Journal |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110755399/guggenheim-gets-gift-with-string/ |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref> Despite having given $77 million, more than any other donor in the Guggenheim's history,<ref name="nyt-2005-01-21" /><ref name="The Journal News 2005">{{Cite news |date=January 21, 2005 |title=Guggenheim chairman resigns |pages=10 |work=The Journal News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110755319/guggenheim-chairman-resigns/ |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref> Lewis did not have as much influence over the board's decisions as did top donors at the city's other art museums.<ref name="nyt-2005-01-21" /> Lewis resigned from the board of directors in 2005, expressing opposition to Krens's plans for additional museums around the world.<ref name="The Journal News 2005" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=January 20, 2005 |title=Guggenheim Loses Top Donor in Rift on Spending and Vision |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/20/arts/design/guggenheim-loses-top-donor-in-rift-on-spending-and-vision.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Longtime curator [[Lisa Dennison]] was hired as the museum's new director in 2005, working under Krens, who continued to direct the foundation.<ref name="nyt-2005-09-21">{{Cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=September 21, 2005 |title=Museum Names New York Director |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/21/arts/design/museum-names-new-york-director.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Lieberman |first1=Paul |last2=Haithman |first2=Diane |date=September 22, 2005 |title=New York's Guggenheim Picks New Director |pages=38 |work=Los Angeles Times |issn=0458-3035 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110755771/new-yorks-guggenheim-picks-new/ |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref> By 2006, the museum faces a $35 million deficit, even as Dennison rejected the idea of funding exhibits through corporate sponsorships.<ref name="Wilson 2006">{{cite magazine |last=Wilson |first=Claire |date=October 23, 2006 |title=Elevating the Guggenheim |magazine=Crain's New York Business |volume=22 |issue=43 |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|219156351}}}}</ref> Dennison resigned in July 2007 to work at auction house [[Sotheby's]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=July 31, 2007 |title=Director of Guggenheim Resigns to Join Sotheby's |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/arts/design/31gugg.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Tensions between Krens and the board continued, and Krens stepped down as foundation director in February 2008.<ref name="nyt-2008-02-28" />

===Armstrong era===
[[File:Richard Armstrong 2012.png|thumb|upright|Richard Armstrong, 2012]]
[[Richard Armstrong (museum director)|Richard Armstrong]], former director of the [[Carnegie Museum of Art]], became the director of the museum and the foundation in November 2008.<ref name="nyt-2008-09-23"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Boehm |first=Mike |title=Guggenheim names Richard Armstrong director |work=Los Angeles Times |issn=0458-3035 |date=September 25, 2008 |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-guggenheim25-2008sep25-story.html |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' said the Guggenheim Foundation had selected him because his "calmer, steadier presence" contrasted with the "nearly 20 often tumultuous years of Mr. Krens's maverick vision".<ref name="nyt-2008-09-03">{{Cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |date=September 3, 2008 |title=Guggenheim Is Considering New Director |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/arts/design/03guggenheim.html |access-date=October 20, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In addition to its permanent collections, which continued to grow under his direction,<ref name=artdaily/> the foundation has administered loan exhibitions and co-organized exhibitions with other museums to foster public outreach.<ref name=websiteCollab>{{Cite web |url=http://www.guggenheim.org/guggenheim-foundation/collaborations |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140405012929/http://www.guggenheim.org/guggenheim-foundation/collaborations |url-status=dead |title=Foundation website's collaborations page |archive-date=April 5, 2014}}</ref> The museum hosted exhibitions such as ''[[America (Cattelan)|America]]'' (2016), one of the smallest ever hosted there.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McDermon |first=Daniel |date=August 18, 2017 |title=Solid-Gold Toilet to Be Removed From Guggenheim in September |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/arts/design/solid-gold-toilet-to-be-removed-from-guggenheim-in-september.html |access-date=October 20, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

About 140 maintenance workers and art installers joined a [[labor union]] in 2019, the first time the museum's employees had unionized.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moynihan |first=Colin |date=June 28, 2019 |title=Guggenheim Workers Vote to Join a Union, the Museum's First |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/arts/design/guggenheim-union-vote.html |access-date=October 6, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=Davis2019>{{cite web |last=Davis |first=Ben |date=June 28, 2019 |title=Art Installers and Maintenance Workers at the Guggenheim Have Voted 'Yes' to Joining a Union |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/guggenheim-union-1588120 |access-date=October 6, 2022 |website=Artnet News}}</ref> That year, [[Chaédria LaBouvier]] became the first black woman curator to create a solo exhibition and first black person to write a text published by the museum.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mitter |first=Siddhartha |date=July 30, 2019 |title=Behind Basquiat's 'Defacement': Reframing a Tragedy |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/arts/design/basquiat-defacement-guggenheim-curator.html |access-date=June 3, 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=Lewis2022/> She accused the museum of racism and alleged that, among other things, officials withheld resources and refused to let journalists interview her, though an article in ''[[The Atlantic]]'' described LaBouvier as being hostile toward people who commented on her exhibition.<ref name=Lewis2022>{{cite web |last=Lewis |first=Helen |title=The Guggenheim's Scapegoat |website=The Atlantic |date=October 3, 2022 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/11/guggenheim-racism-controversy-curator-nancy-spector/671529 |access-date=October 6, 2022}}</ref> Within a month of these criticisms, the museum hired its first full-time black curator, [[Ashley James (curator)|Ashley James]].<ref name=nyt-2019-11-15>{{Cite news |last=Pogrebin |first=Robin |date=November 15, 2019 |title=Guggenheim Hires First Full-Time Black Curator |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/arts/design/guggenheim-black-curator.html |access-date=October 6, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> An investigation by a law firm hired by the museum found "no evidence that Ms. LaBouvier was subject to adverse treatment on the basis of her race".<ref name="nyt-2020-10-08"/> The museum's Artistic Director and Chief Curator, [[Nancy Spector]], left the institution in 2020 after 34 years.<ref name=Lewis2022/><ref name="nyt-2020-10-08">{{Cite news |last=Pogrebin |first=Robin |date=October 8, 2020 |title=Guggenheim's Top Curator Is Out as Inquiry Into Basquiat Show Ends |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/arts/design/guggenheim-investigation-nancy-spector.html |access-date=October 6, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The Guggenheim approved a plan for increasing racial diversity in August 2020,<ref name="nyt-2020-08-17a">{{Cite news |last=Small |first=Zachary |date=August 17, 2020 |title=Guggenheim Approves Diversity Plan After Staff Complaints of Racism |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/17/arts/design/guggenheim-diversity-plan-racism.html |access-date=October 6, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=Holmes2020>{{cite web |last=Holmes |first=Helen |date=August 18, 2020 |title=After Allegations of Systemic Racism, the Guggenheim Has Released a Diversity Plan |url=https://observer.com/2020/08/guggenheim-diversity-plan-chaedria-labouvier/ |access-date=October 6, 2022 |website=Observer}}</ref> and it hired a "chief culture and inclusion officer" in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |last=Holmes |first=Helen |date=July 28, 2021 |title=The Guggenheim Museum Has Hired Its First Chief Culture and Inclusion Officer |url=https://observer.com/2021/07/guggenheim-museum-diversity-ty-woodfolk/ |access-date=October 6, 2022 |website=Observer}}</ref>

During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the Guggenheim temporarily closed in March 2020.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Pogrebin |first1=Robin |last2=Cooper |first2=Michael |date=March 12, 2020 |title=New York's Major Cultural Institutions Close in Response to Coronavirus |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/arts/design/met-museum-opera-carnegie-hall-close-coronavirus.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> It reopened that October,<ref name=CBSNews2020>{{cite web |date=October 4, 2020 |title=Guggenheim Museum Reopens To Public After Months-Long Pandemic Closure |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/guggenheim-museum-reopening |access-date=October 4, 2022 |website=CBS News}}</ref><ref name=ABC7NewYork2020>{{cite web |date=October 3, 2020 |title=Reopen New York City: Guggenheim Museum welcomes back visitors on Upper East Side in Manhattan |url=https://abc7ny.com/guggenheim-when-does-the-open-reopen-museum/6740352/ |access-date=October 4, 2022 |website=ABC7 New York}}</ref> recording a monthly net loss of $1.4 million while closed.<ref name="nyt-2020-09-16">{{Cite news |last=Small |first=Zachary |date=September 16, 2020 |title=Guggenheim Cuts Staff by 11 Percent Ahead of Reopening |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/arts/guggenheim-layoffs.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> It fired numerous staff members during the pandemic.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moynihan |first=Colin |date=July 30, 2021 |title=Guggenheim Museum Curators Move to Join a Union |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/30/arts/design/guggenheim-museum-curators-union.html |access-date=October 6, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Holmes |first=Helen |date=August 2, 2021 |title=Guggenheim Staffers Are Putting Plans in Motion to Join a Union |url=https://observer.com/2021/08/guggenheim-staff-joining-union/ |access-date=October 6, 2022 |website=Observer}}</ref> In 2022, the Guggenheim began hosting a poet-in-residence program, the first such program at a visual-art museum.<ref>{{cite web | last=Graeber | first=Laurel | title=Guggenheim Finds Art in Poetry | website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 | date=April 27, 2022 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/27/arts/design/guggenheim-poetry.html | access-date=December 16, 2024}}</ref> Armstrong announced in mid-2022 that he planned to resign in 2023,<ref name=FinancialTimes2022>{{cite web |title=Guggenheim director Richard Armstrong: 'I'm calm about the whole future of museums' |website=Financial Times |date=July 8, 2022 |url=https://www.ft.com/content/3e13c600-0f35-421e-9d81-aa9cef7d70cd |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Julia |date=July 8, 2022 |title=Director of the Guggenheim to Step Down |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/arts/design/director-guggenheim-richard-armstrong-steps-down.html |access-date=October 5, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and he left the museum at the end of 2023.<ref>{{cite web | last=Cascone | first=Sarah | title=Inflation Hits Museums, as the Guggenheim Becomes the Latest New York Institution to Hike Prices | website=Artnet News | date=August 2, 2023 | url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/guggenheim-raises-admission-to-30-dollars-2344866 | access-date=November 30, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Joachim |last=Pissarro |first2=Jennifer |last2=Stockman | title=Richard Armstrong with Joachim Pissarro & Jennifer Stockman | website=The Brooklyn Rail | date=July 29, 2024 | url=https://brooklynrail.org/2024/06/art/Richard-Armstrong-with-Joachim-Pissarro-Jennifer-Stockman/ | access-date=November 30, 2024}}</ref>

=== Westermann era ===
In June 2024, Mariët Westermann became the Guggenheim's first female director.<ref name=Tremayne>{{cite web |last=Tremayne-Pengelly |first=Alexandra |title=Cultural Comings and Goings: The Guggenheim’s New Director and More |website=Observer |date=November 21, 2023 |url=https://observer.com/2023/11/cultural-comings-goings-guggenheims-director/ |access-date=November 30, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Pogrebin |first=Robin |date=November 20, 2023 |title=Guggenheim Selects Director, First Woman to Lead the Museum Group |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/20/arts/design/guggenheim-director-westermann-abu-dhabi.html |access-date=November 20, 2023}}</ref> She had been the vice chancellor of [[New York University Abu Dhabi]] since 2019 and was its provost when it was formed in 2007 and was responsible for, among other things, its first climate action plan.<ref name=Tremayne/> She holds Master's and Ph.D. degrees in the History of Art from [[New York University Institute of Fine Arts]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Dr. Mariët Westermann |publisher=Institute of International Education |date=November 15, 2024 |url=https://www.iie.org/about/governance/board-of-trustees/dr-mariet-westermann |access-date=November 30, 2024}}</ref> Following unsuccessful attempts to steady the museum's finances by expanding the endowment, increasing ticket prices and reducing the number of exhibits, Westermann terminated about 7% of the museum's staff in early 2025.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Small |first=Zachary |last2=Burns |first2=Charlotte |date=2025-02-28 |title=Guggenheim Lays Off 20 Employees as Financial Challenges Persist |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/arts/design/guggenheim-layoffs.html |access-date=2025-03-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Cassady |first=Daniel |title=The Guggenheim Tightens Its Belt Again, Laying Off 20 Staffers |website=ARTnews.com |date=February 28, 2025 |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/guggenheim-museum-layoffs-2025-1234734127 |access-date=March 1, 2025}}</ref>