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The Guggenheim Turns 50

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright’s modern masterpiece, the museum is highlighting works chosen by its first curator, James Sweeney, who famously battled Wright over the building’s design.

© 2009 The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

© 2009 The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona

Composition, 1955, Willem de Kooning (1904-1997)

Two Heads (Deux têtes), 1953, Karel Appel (1921-2006)

© 2009 Karel Appel Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/Beeldrecht, Amsterdam

Great Painting (Gran pintura), 1958, Antoni Tàpies (b. 1923)

© 2009 Fundació Antoni Tà pies/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VEGAP, Madrid

From Within (Desde dentro), March 1953, Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002)

© 2009 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VEGAP, Madrid

Ocean Greyness, 1953, Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)

© 2009 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

James Johnson Sweeney, the museum's first curator, 1956.

© The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York

The inaugural exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1959

© The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York

© The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York

James Johnson Sweeney at the inaugural opening of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1959

© The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York

James Johnson Sweeney at the inaugural opening of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1959

© The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York