Wright Chat

peterm

http://www.guggenheim.org/video/opening-day-film

DavidC · Joined: 02 Sep 2006 Posts: 6448 Location: Oak Ridge, TN

Love the 'pinkish hue' of the original. Wish they would have had the courage to go back to it during the recent renovation work.

Thanks for posting this, Peter.

David

DRN · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 3545 Location: Cherry Hill, NJ

What a fantastic record....to see the original building color, the additionless background, the void between the monitor and the rotunda, the people, and the cars of the period (especially the cool Citroen DS19) all in motion, captures the context of the building when it was created in a way a photo can't. It truly was a new thing in the city at that time and it continues to be timeless.

ozwrightfan · Joined: 13 Aug 2007 Posts: 175 Location: Sydney Australia

Also note how well dressed everyone is. In those days when you went out you dressed for the occasion, unlike today when many turn up looking like they have just returned from the beach.

classic form · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Posts: 182 Location: Kalamazoo, Mich.

I'm sure most have seen this article about the color of the building.

http://architecture.about.com/od/museum1/ss/Guggenheim-Color.htm

Chip 2gc from color harmony manual mentioned in article (against standard printer paper)

DavidC · Joined: 02 Sep 2006 Posts: 6448 Location: Oak Ridge, TN

Previous thread on the re-painting the Gugg.

David

DRN · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 3545 Location: Cherry Hill, NJ

The art world seems to love to hate Wright's building, despite all of the visitors and revenue it generates. This picture seems to be the smoking gun of what color the building was intended to be:

http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/090630Guggenheim/1.asp

Wright would be wildly waving his cane if it wasn't.

I'd advocate at the next scheduled repainting, that the painted bits in William Short's period photo be sampled, and the paint should match the base color layer found. But then that's an architect's opinion for what that's worth....

Rood · Joined: 30 Oct 2010 Posts: 992 Location: Goodyear, AZ 85338

Reidy · Joined: 07 Jan 2005 Posts: 1431 Location: Northern CA

True. but they drove those preposteroous cars. It evens out in the end.

Paul Ringstrom · Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 3932 Location: Mason City, IA

Reidy,
Let me see if I have this straight: The increase in the quality of the technology is supposed to counter-balance the decline of civilization? It really does not seem like a fair trade.
_________________
Owner of the G. Curtis Yelland House (1910), by Wm. Drummond

Roderick Grant · Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 8457

British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge said, "Americans mistake comfort for civilization."

While the sartorial habits of the 50s may seem 'more civilized,' they were also less comfortable. The four-in-hand uniform of men and the white-gloved uniform of women were displaced (at least to some extent) in the tie-dye 60s ... for better or worse. It's attending the opera in jeans, sandals and unkempt beards that I find distasteful. Men's attire, as well.

I think what Reidy was talking about, concerning cars, was design, not technology. The preposterous cars were a celebration of America's supremacy in the world, and the long-awaited end of the Great Depression. Of the 1950 Buick Roadmaster it was said, "It can pass anything but a gas station." Starting in the 60s, car design became boring. Better, but boring. Since the 1959 Buick, all cars look alike to me.

(Speaking of cars, did you hear that Citroen is in danger of going out of business? A major Peugeot-Citroen factory in France is closing, and the company is hoping for a buyout by either the French government or a Chinese corporation!)

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 16027 Location: San Francisco

That would be a shame. Death (and revival, and death again) seems to be the fate of any number of formerly great auto makes -- both here and abroad. Citroen and Peugeot -- a major player and a giant in the field, respectively -- never had consistent representation on these shores, sadly. The same could be said for other imports, like Renault, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, etc etc.

An interesting difference in the mid-century period, between competitors Peugeot and Volvo, is that the former was a very large operation where virtually every component was made in-house, while comparatively tiny Volvo outsourced parts like axles and other elements. "Swedish safety" seems to have performed well as an image for the company. It hasn't hurt that their styling has caught up -- belatedly -- with other European brands . . .

The Guggenheim wasn't pinkish, as it appears to be in the linked film. That source suffers from color degradation, as can be seen from the first frames (all the cars on Fifth Avenue look pink or lavender). The color was sand. These two photos show the change made when (or after ?) the "background tower" was added.

Matt · Joined: 25 Nov 2009 Posts: 401

THanks for the photos. It's helping me consider what color to paint the Guggenheim models we're working on. I was going with just white but maybe a light sand would be better.

Matt
www.LandmarkModel.com

Rood · Joined: 30 Oct 2010 Posts: 992 Location: Goodyear, AZ 85338

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 16027 Location: San Francisco

Remember, Mr Sweeney was talking about the interior color -- the background for the art. White has never been a bad choice, there. I don't know that the director had any interest in altering the exterior -- which is why, from day one, it was a notably warm-colored sand castle standing out very much on its own terms in that stretch of the avenue.

If indeed Mr Wright had insisted that even the background panels in the painting display bays on the ramp be painted the exterior color, there wouldn't be a museum director or display expert in the land who wouldn't have objected . . . with good reason.

That said, I'm no more a fan of Kandinsky's paintings that was Mr Wright. Perhaps I, too, would want to diminish their awkward glare by immersing them in a sand pile ?

SDR