Joseph Papin has a series of drawings that he did at the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in October 1959. These drawings are now a part of his collection of work at Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML), Butler Library, Columbia University in NYC.
The drawing below reads “Lobby Guggenheim Museum, Artists’ Night” and is dated October 19, 1959, two days before the opening of the Museum on October 21, 1959.
Another drawing notes that it is the opening of the Museum:
“The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation was founded in 1937, and its first New York–based venue for the display of art, the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, opened in 1939. With its exhibitions of Solomon Guggenheim’s somewhat eccentric art collection, the unusual gallery—designed by William Muschenheim at the behest of Hilla Rebay, the foundation’s curator and the museum’s director—provided many visitors with their first encounter with great works by Vasily Kandinsky, as well as works by his followers, including Rudolf Bauer, Alice Mason, Otto Nebel, and Rolph Scarlett. The need for a permanent building to house Guggenheim’s art collection became evident in the early 1940s, and in 1943 renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright gained the commission to design a museum in New York City. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opened on October 21, 1959.” (https://www.guggenheim.org/about-us/history)
I suspect that Joseph Papin’s drawings in evening attire may be ones that go along with the drawing that notes that “Artists’ NIght” was on the 19th, two days before the opening, and that the drawings of people in the more crowded group scenes were at the opening. I tried searching online for additional details about the Artists’ Night to no avail, although I imagine that an event before the opening would not have gotten much publicity even at the time.
Opening night Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum October 21, 1959.
Leave a Reply