Comparative Criticism of Two Museums

Mark Moran Prof. Elizabeth Marlowe Master founds of Western Art November 8, 1999 Formal Comparison of deuce Museums The Frick Collection and The Guggenheim Museum ar two museums on 5thAvenue in New Yorks Upper East Side neighborhood, and they are both named for famous American tycoons from the early 20th blow. But their similarities pretty untold(prenominal) block dour there. The Frick Collection is the former residence of steel baron Henry dust Frick who spent forty years assembling a life-sized accretion of stratagemwork for his personal enjoyment.The Guggenheim Museum, on the opposite hand, was always think as a state-supported museum to display various artistic creation exhibits. These fundamental differences are most evident in the architectural design of the constructions themselves the Frick building is a calm, warm house create for a family to live in temporary hookup the Guggenheim building is a cold, public hall built to accommodate hundreds of art enthusia sts at a time. The styles of the architecture are quite distinguishable, and they reflect the genuinely different styles of prowess deep down.Furthermore, the shapes and layout of the buildings lend themselves to quite different viewing experiences for the visitor. From the outside, the yet things the two buildings have in common is that they both dominate an built-in block of 5thAvenue and they are both white. The Frick building, designed by architect Thomas Hastings, was built from 1913-1914 in the neo-classical style prevalent in New York at the time. Classical arches, ionic columns, and outdoor gardens and fountains remind the stunner of an ancient Roman villa, much wish fellow baron and art postulateor J. P.Gettys museum in Malibu, CA. Elaborate ornament over the doorways and columns as well as ornamented atriums and statue niches further enhance the classic design and silent setting. The building is comparatively horizontal, primarily star story that sprawls out m uch lower than the towering buildings which surround it. The Guggenheim building is on the button the opposite. Built in 1956 from architect Frank Lloyd W correctlys design, it is as much a tidy sum of the future as Fricks house is an homage to antiquity. The Guggenheim is a heavyweight concrete and glass spiral designed with mathematical curves and no right ngles. The surfaces are all completely smooth and there is no decoration or ornamentation inside or out. The bizarre structure conjures up images of alien civilizations and challenges the viewer with its unusual shape. The Guggenheim resembles and upside-down wedding cake, which gives it a much more vertical feeling than the Frick, even though it is also shorter than the contact buildings. There are no living areas inside the Guggenheim, just one huge chamber with a long spiral that visitors are intend to wind down and view all the artistic production from.Artwork is primarily installed on the large spiral, although there are also small populate which follow off the spiral ramp. Because visitors take the elevator to the top, they have nowhere to go just now to follow the spiral down. This ensures that they see the fine art in a specific order and provides the satisfying feeling that the viewer has seen all there is to see. The Frick, however, has no set order. Even though some modifications were made by architect John Russell Pope in the 1930s to convert it for public use, the building largely retains the feeling of a house.Just as one would pay of a house, it is a mixture or narrow hallways, living areas, large banquet rooms, and outdoor courtyards which sprawl out in various directions from the entryway. The rooms are designed for comfort and practical living, not for efficiently pickings a tour. Visitors are encouraged to wander through the rooms in any particular order without guidebooks, simply enjoying the pieces as Frick himself did. This provides a relaxing and laid back setting for vie wing the assorted artwork inside, but also leaves the visitor unsure of when he has finished seeing the good collection.Since the collection doesnt change much, seeing it all is not the point. reposeful in the setting is. This very different interior designs demonstrate the different priorities of the museums. The Frick Collection is primarily static that is, it is almost entirely the varied artwork collected by Frick himself (although there is a small area in the basement for temporary exhibits). There is no unifying theme of the pieces inside and Japanese vases sit right beside European paintings. Fricks goal was to collect pieces of art that he found pleasant to live with, regardless of their writing style or origin.For this reason, he had a house built to hold his artwork rather than a museum, even though he always intended to eventually bequeath it as a public collection. The Guggenheim, on the other hand, transforms itself every several months as it rotates in a brand-new exhibit. matchless month it may be almost entirely 20thcentury French paintings and the next month mostly Harley-Davidson motorcycles. That permanent collection of the Guggenheim is relatively small and not its main focus. The main focus of the Guggenheim is to show off a particular theme or genre of artwork assembled by professional museum curators.Since the exhibits only last a few months, the museum encourages repeat viewers who benefit from the spiral design that allows them to efficiently see the entire new show. What is consistent about that Guggenheims exhibits is that they are generally modern and challenging, just like the building. The design of the Frick residence is to inspire tranquility. The painting, sculpture, furniture, and pottery range from the metempsychosis to the late 19thcentury, and there are no violent or startling works in the collection.The buildings layout, from the peaceful fountains to the delightful columns and niches all enforce a feeling of sereni ty inside the building and out in its gardens. The constantly changing Guggenheim strives to do just the opposite. Its goal is to be thought-provoking and shocking which is emphasized by its strange structure and lack of benches and resting areas, which are abundant in the Frick. Because Fricks artwork is pre-20thcentury and somewhat traditional by todays standards, the mansion built to house the works was designed to be as classical as possible.The building itself is a classically inspired artwork. Likewise, the Guggenheim building is an abstract, thought-provoking piece of 20thcentury artwork. The Guggenheim Museum and the Frick Collection are two of New Yorks most famous museums. They have fundamentally different architectural designs, both inside and out, that reflect and enhance the different goals of the museums. And yet, they both interact with their environments in a similar manner. neither building is a large rectangle like the apartment buildings and consulate offices tha t tower over them.Their unusual designs which dominate entire blocks quite suggest buildings that are open to the public, just as libraries or churches do. Neither of them blends in with the surrounding buildings, and yet each one elegantly faces important Park and adds to the neighborhoods overall harmony. The unique shapes of these museums invite passersby to enquire at them and perhaps to come in and admire the artwork, or at least browse through the gift shops. In this sense, the different architecture of these buildings, one classical and one futuristic, produce a similar sense in the viewer and thus achieve the same goal.