Editing Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (section)

==== 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>