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peterm
Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 5718 Location: Chicago, Il.---Oskaloosa, Ia.
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DavidC
Joined: 02 Sep 2006 Posts: 6362 Location: Oak Ridge, TN
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Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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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 |
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DRN
Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 3395 Location: Cherry Hill, NJ
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Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 10:29 am Post subject: |
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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. |
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ozwrightfan
Joined: 13 Aug 2007 Posts: 175 Location: Sydney Australia
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Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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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. |
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classic form
Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Posts: 182 Location: Kalamazoo, Mich.
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DavidC
Joined: 02 Sep 2006 Posts: 6362 Location: Oak Ridge, TN
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DRN
Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 3395 Location: Cherry Hill, NJ
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 9:28 am Post subject: |
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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.... |
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Rood
Joined: 30 Oct 2010 Posts: 963 Location: Goodyear, AZ 85338
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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ozwrightfan wrote: | 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. |
Yes, the contrast was particularly striking during the 50-year anniversary exhibition opening ... when people entered wearing blue-jeans and sandals, while sheets of newspaper blew along the sidewalks and collected in the gutters. |
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Reidy
Joined: 07 Jan 2005 Posts: 1387 Location: Northern CA
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Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 9:51 am Post subject: |
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True. but they drove those preposteroous cars. It evens out in the end. |
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Paul Ringstrom
Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 3795 Location: Mason City, IA
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Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 12:21 pm Post subject: |
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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 |
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Roderick Grant
Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 8122
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Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 2:16 pm Post subject: |
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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!) |
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SDR
Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 15471 Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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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.
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Matt
Joined: 25 Nov 2009 Posts: 349
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Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 2:38 pm Post subject: |
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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 |
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Rood
Joined: 30 Oct 2010 Posts: 963 Location: Goodyear, AZ 85338
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Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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Matt wrote: | 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 |
Matt, curator Sweeney wanted everything painted white. Mr. Wright was quoted saying, "Sweeney white. The colour of death." |
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SDR
Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 15471 Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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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 |
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