Collecting Abstraction: The Multiple Narratives of Modernism

Why is it important for the Guggenheim Museum to collect and preserve art?
To Guggenheim Museum founder Solomon R. Guggenheim and founding director Hilla Rebay abstraction was not just a radical art form. They also saw its potential as an immensely powerful tool for better understanding and changing the world. When Rebay introduced Vasily Kandinsky’s work to Guggenheim around 1929, she set the course of Guggenheim’s collection, and ultimately the collecting legacy of the museum he would later establish. The centrality of abstraction to the art institution’s approach to collecting is the heart of a new Guggenheim documentary, "Collecting Abstraction: The Multiple Narratives of Modernism."
"Collecting Abstraction" journeys through the decades-long history of abstraction in the Guggenheim’s collection and iconic exhibitions, illustrating an enduring commitment to the artists of our time, the multiple perspectives art offers, and the conversations artworks can stimulate. Through open and honest dialogue with various voices from the Guggenheim Museum, "Collecting Abstraction" demonstrates the ways in which the founding principles of the Guggenheim’s collection continue to guide its present and future.
Learn more about the Guggenheim collection at www.guggenheim.org/collection....

[@Columbia-Brightlight]

Thoroughly enjoyed the conversation, the different perspectives and the respect given to non-objective Art. As well as Abstract Art. Grateful the Art-in-Itself Guggenheim protects these invaluable pieces! When I see a Kandinsky, my heart melts. He’s my imaginary sweetheart❣️

[@izeroto9761]

Amazing 🎨 🖼

[@coreymasoy7034]

Awesome episode ❗💯🔥⚡👍

[@eagle1ear]

Gatekeepers, mostly, come from privileged backgrounds.Almost all collectors do. Some artists do as well. The intellectualizing of art, the earnest search for the proper stance, the justification of the "mission" of the institution, is elaborated here in doctoral dissertation language acquired through having the financial backing of wealthy parents, family or patrons. Institutions, such as the Guggenheim, depend on the support of the privileged. This context needs to be kept in mind. It's always a factor in our existence within a culture.

[@xonious9031]

I'm not saying all art transactions involve money laundering but I am saying the majority of them do like more than half

[@hr3800]

Narcissists = crooks & scammers. A big disgusting joke

[@dw7939]

This weird cult of people have nearly ruined art. I'm so sick of ugly art and their cult. As an artist I'm disgusted by the way most of them speak about art.

[@cyrus6236]

I dont think this is so much art growing into the hands of the privileged, but that society has pushed art so far into the corner, most people dont even give it a second thought. I grew up around art, my dad is an artist, and ive worked on art as long as my memory can serve. But I remember taking my exgirlfriend to see work i was excited for, and she didnt even know of museum edicate! Art has surrounded us more than we can fathom in TV, Billboards, on the packaging of everything that we buy, thats not a bad thing at all, but we easily forget its so much more than ‘what looks good, or ‘what it can sell’. As i grow older i realize just how far weve gone from even ATTEMPTING to understand modern art, and lets be honest, over-justification is the main culprit. So is it the fault of art snobs who critique the work to a pulp, or is it the fault of society in general, and its obsession to sort and gather, and toss aside anything we cant take on past face value

[@andreaandrea6716]

I am deeply, profoundly, passionately GRATEFUL that there is a place where I can go to SEE Art. That there is a love and respect for it and people who will love and protect it. HOWEVER, the rubbish that people spout when trying to talk about Art is painful to have to listen to.

[@MrIrons-og3rg]

I need my own art gallery here in Jamaica

[@lisengel2498]

Wonderfull video with an amazing collection. One of the wonderfull surprices for me was the artist Etel Adnant and Cecilia Vicuna.

[@madewirayasa6821]

Wou Keren dan SUPER

[@denisceballos9745]

IMO, we sometimes forget the “feeling” part of visual art and tend to intellectualize it so much. Do we talk this way about music, about dance, poetry...? How does it make you feel? How do the colors, shapes, and forms affect you? For example, in Stanley Whitney’s pieces; those colors are singing, baby! They bring joy, a calm sort of joy.

[@andreaandrea6716]

Yes!! People talk absolute RUBBISH about Art. It is REALLY strange!

[@andreaandrea6716]

@@drawbot70 We should revolt ... by telling the truth, as you have just done!!

[@brucegelman5582]

Kandinsky was a genius.

[@andreaandrea6716]

Yes!!!

[@coreylawal264]

Who did the music?

[@TamaraRodriguez]

❤

[@cynthiacupler8005]

I love Miro,and others.

[@nicolasclet6221]

"Les plus grandes arnaques ne sont rien à coté de l'art abstrait" M.Audiard.

[@user-ew4wo6uu9z]

이탈리아 구갠하임 미술관 최초공개 좋은작품영상 감사합니다

[@lakshmanankomathmanalath]

😍👍

[@dedskin1]

That art really is modern , chaotic , sad , even aggressive , void of target void of subject , void of humanism , not a single human being there yet a force of a kind , like the picture is forced to be made . . Indeed that is modern art , im not saying it is not ,because its made by the society that reflects it self on that canvas .

[@cyrus6236]

Theres a big difference in art that makes us feel, and art that makes an attempt to. To an aspiring artist remember that, if you cant sell your narrative to yourself, then how do you expect anyone else to buy into your story?

[@malcolmharing3744]

Can anyone say "vague comment ".

[@Diegorobot]

Interview me , struggle story for days out here in El Paso

[@angelicaprieto4628]

No ay que estar peleado con el arte el arte es una cancion buscale la pacion y te enamoraras

[@nahumflores7182]

I wonder if this system of categorization of modernism kills the complexity of human expression. There are aesthetic complex forms found in cultures that are not anthropocentric that have managed to survived in the periphery of modernism.

[@brucegelman5582]

Why arent we taught to feel art.Its always what does it mean or what was the artist trying to say.Shut up and feel.

[@Sun_Inside]

💙💛

[@incognito3620]

One word- H O R R I B L E !

[@theoryofpersonality1420]

Proof that going to college for art won't make you an artist.

[@cyrus6236]

Art is sadly becoming a world where people that dont understand it, can live side by side with those that do. And we are so ahead of ourselves as a human race right now, we arnt taking the time to divide those that do good work, and those that replicate good work. Alot of pretending in the space, and it WILL cause damage to the artists and art critics of the future

[@adoboarchives4738]

Art is a good keeper of money (aside from bank). As you can see, when you bought an art, it preserves your money and it can appraise the value overtime which grows your money

[@marioguercio8722]

Me adelanté prejuiciosamente y me equivoqué. Si se nombró a la verdadera pionera de la abstracción: Hilma af Klint.

[@karlabritfeld7104]

I LOVE abstract and modern art. Love it love it love it. Yes I paint. No, nobody understands my work.

[@russellsnodgrass9374]

So do I. So do I. 50 years ago as a young man I took a day trip to Buffalo, NY to go see the Albright Knox(sp?) Museum. It changed my life in a very real and enduring way. I saw a retrospective at the Guggenheim once of Mark Rothko. Hard to tell others what your eyes now see that they didn't before.

[@davidhunternyc1]

@@russellsnodgrass9374 Rothko ất the Guggenheim. Must have been magnificent. With contemporary art, pluralism reigns but it's a double-edged sword. Everyone has a voice but most voices say little.

[@russellsnodgrass9374]

@davidhunternyc It really was. And I say that knowing how extremely limited my experience and exposure to art and museums is. But walking up the circular ramp that runs up around that cylindrical building and starting by standing a couple feet away from these paintings; but then halfway round you could turn around and there across the space were the paintings you'd just been in front of, only now floating and vibrating on the wall across found you. It was stunning, and there was no question that you were seeing in them why they'd been created and what the artist was trying to create for the viewer. Higher up still, and one could look back and see three tiers down. Whole show was kind of an experience of accretion seeing as how it was possible to look back and see the painting you'd started with. Smaller now, but still humming. Like the colors where in dialog together, but all in murmurs and at a frequency below usual human consciousness. If that makes any sense at all. Thanks for the shout-out. rb

[@davidhunternyc1]

@@russellsnodgrass9374 Like clouds, like fire, like rustling leaves, it all makes perfect sense.

[@themysteriousdomainmoviepalace]

When one of the first pieces they show is lrl the monster marx, I'm outta here!

[@eagarde]

Mostly contrived art here, some good pieces. Stick with Picaso, Metisse, Polansky oh wait to White right.

[@ExtremeObservations]

Lol all art is contrived

[@sharongillesp]

Interesting how many of the curators are women, while many artists within museums (galleries too) are men. Not this narrative but museums as a whole.

[@malcolmharing3744]

You should fact check your premise . Women are moving up in the art world. Being a male artist today is guaranteed failure. Unless, of course, you're a gay male or trans male.

[@leonardoluc6362]

I am an artist do i know? Do they know, just talk and agree and more talk omg. Go fishing.

[@darrendazcox]

I am a contemporary artist - i put paint on canvas (muraflage murals) and i hereby refuse any future ownership or critique of my work by these gatekeepers - if my work or self (now or legacy persona) is ever assigned a biography, monetary value, accolade or award it is not by my consent. To me , most contemporary modern art looks like minimal effort was assigned - small muscles and big brains full of ideas to gratify the ego with a corporate structure that fools the artists into mass producing spiel and products to sell - a total capitalist illusion - how do you get furniture (using Matisse's definition of art) to be too important not to keep? you make it so valuable that the illusion of what it can be sold for is what it becomes not even to accent the cerulean on the sofa anymore. You can't possibly understand why Rothko painted a big red square until you stand in front of it in direct sunlight - until you are there in situ it looks like a joke but when you feel the envelopment of the color in a sense that is not visual with the pigment reflecting back to you then you get it - but do these gatekeepers ever start off a conversation with how to 'get it'? These days we just have to accept that a 24 year old who's parents got them a gig at the Guggenheim after they got their art history degree are experts on fine art these days - does that make sense to you? :)

[@petermgruhn]

Oh.

[@shenanigans3710]

I'm sure this could be more woke and earnest, but I'm not sure how

[@malcolmharing3744]

It's all been done before. Nothing is new. Although, can anyone say Inclusive or Diversity? Art in America is not about American art. Art News is more focused on (skin) color than they are on Art. Its acceptable for a certain race of artists to bash other races but not vice-versa. Don't play stupid.

[@momamartyblackwelder1052]

let the earth be silent, the winds cease to blow every created being fold your wings for there's a new song being sung with a new melody

[@therisenkennethhagin9093]

sing that again marty

[@theoryofpersonality1420]

It's interesting how different the word art can actually be. What is art to one person is garbage to someone else and vice versa.

[@marioguercio8722]

Me adelanté prejuiciosamente

[@melaniamonicacraciun9900]

One of the biggest mysteries of the Holy Creation friends, how come humans have such an imagination? This is not only imagination but messages from beyond we need to understand much deeper. Since the Jesus Christ's story, God is using us to reach His goals, let's try to understand his intentions further on. Most of the times, fine arts beauty become the most powerful narcotic, helping us fall in trance and get the perfect placebo effect, we need nothing but this heavenly bliss, there's too much ugliness poisoning our lives, it's a holy mission by now, spreading love for fine arts and give them a true meaning of life friends

[@theoryofpersonality1420]

The definition of the word art is the expression or application of human creative 👉skill 👈and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their👉 beauty or emotional power.👈 In my opinion this doesn't meet the actual definition of art.

[@theoryofpersonality1420]

It's not beautiful and doesn't have any emotion.

[@bluemeaford]

@@theoryofpersonality1420 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder my friend.

[@EulogyfortheAngels]

@@theoryofpersonality1420 Your definition has several terms that would need defining themselves. For example, the definition/criteria/perception of beauty alone has been written about for millennia. Skill and creativity also need a deep dive together and separate. Using a word like "primarily" opens the door for bias and taste to make things murky - "often" works better there, though mentioning tendency at all in a definition doesn't make sense because tendency refers to *use* of a definition rather than the definition itself. "It's not beautiful and doesn't have any emotion" is an opinion stated as fact. Your taste and perspective is fundamentally subjective with bits of objectivity.

[@RumGod]

I'm the greatest artist of all time🤸🎨 Wait until you'll see my museum✌️💖💛💚🌍

[@patrickmcdaniel8123]

When it comes to art the only good thing abstract artists are good at..... is talking.

[@BrianMorrisPhoto]

art tells the story of our time..... The Burning bush ...follow the red thread!

[@stonew1927]

Most of what these people talk about and modern art itself comes across as overly intellectual, ever so precious pretentious blather. Occasionally some of it strikes a chord with me, as does Hilma af Klimt's work, and most of Kandisnky's. But the vast majority of the rest of the art shown on the video (and their analysis) I could do without.

[@gabrielenriquez6156]

I really like baroque paintings, you can really see the virtuosity of the artists in their technique. The way they recreate light and human gestures and mannerism. that sort of art transcends time. one thousand years from now people will still be left in awe the first time they see work by Rubens, Caravaggio or Vermeer. I doubt the same effect would take place with some of the work shown here. Two rectangles of paint one light grey and one darker grey? Color blocking? a canvas full of scribble? really? i think the minute you have to explain what your art is about that's when it probably is a fraud. Did Rubens and Vermeer have to explain their paintings? i guess depending of your level of education and art appreciation one looks at the sistine chapel and can deduce certain things depending on what you know about art. but it doesn't take a phd in art history to come to the conclusion that its beautiful, no matter your background.

[@stonew1927]

@@gabrielenriquez6156 excellently expressed. Thank you . . .

[@kencur9690]

@@gabrielenriquez6156 they didn’t have to explain it because it was “simple” - complex and difficult in technique and in its realization, but fairly straightforward in its subject matter (though some, indeed most, art from the renaissance and earlier periods is full of symbolism and complex in their meaning, though this is “simplified” through understanding of the context and conventions) - meanwhile, abstract and contemporary is going beyond reality and actually exploring imagination, that is why it is more intellectual. Now, don’t get me wrong: I am highly skeptical of contemporary art and not really a fan, and I do prefer earlier periods. I am just pointing out the theoretical and conceptual ideas behind the art and why it is not really a fair comparison. Again, whether an artwork actually manages to convey abstract ideas is something else altogether, I am talking in general. I can appreciate that, but I find that many artists of today may simply be hiding behind the abstract, using it as an excuse to pass their mediocrity as something it is not. To point out that even Michelangelo ventured in more abstract work at the end of his life...

[@gabrielenriquez6156]

@@kencur9690 mostly agree but “abstract art is going beyond reality and actually exploring imagination “ I don’t know. Did you actually see the art in this video. Does two rectangles explore imagination? And I’m confused why you think a Rubens or a Vermeer is straightforward in it subject matter. Apart from being visually stunning and full of the artist’s virtuosity some of them were full of symbolism and portray from the most mundane to the most sublime of subject matters. They have both, virtuosity and substance. They’re not just simple pretty drawings

[@kencur9690]

@@gabrielenriquez6156 oh I meant it in general, as in the trajectory of art. Art moves towards that end: both in terms of art history (modern and contemporary) and in terms of artists (early years - later years: lots of great artists of the past explored the abstract at the end of their lives). I wasn’t referring to any particular painting, or the ones in this video. I agree that great art of the past is more than a pretty painting, but it is undoubtedly more straightforward than, say, a surrealist painting. Like I said, lots of complexities in terms of symbolism and meaning, but these can be unlocked through careful observation and study, and knowledge of context and convention. Not so for recent art, which is more elusive. That is what I meant. The art itself is very rich, both in execution and choice of subject matter. I mean, View of Delft is pretty straightforward, and so is Girl with a Pearl Earring. There are undoubtedly some hidden elements (in some of Vermeer’s work, too, in Leonardo’s, etc), and puzzling choices but the general subject is usually plain to see and interpret. Compare this to works by Dali, for instance, and the difference is night and day. I’m not saying one is better than the other, mind you, just that one is far more esoteric and rife with hidden meaning and possibilities of interpretation, and intentionally so. Of course, I fear that many use these intentionally not to explore philosophical questions of reality, but as an excuse - I’m just as skeptical as you are, in the end.

[@dimkilago2958]

Modern art as "queer".Oh my god, i hate this era.

[@TenTenJ]

Arshile Gorky, Arshile Gorky, Arshile Gorky

[@nellyx1x493]

Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren, Matta, Matta

[@m.fazlurrahman5854]

Guggenheim. Why is it important to preserve Art? A series of Art may tell a story but art like any other craft reflects the level of SANITY and coherence of making it unless it’s a PAID project that by definition has to comply to some story. Now about the SANITY part of it, when it becomes methodically measurable it becomes AI art. Bottom line; ART is only valuable to the EYE of its beholders. Unless; it’s nice to the Targeted Audience it has got no value until the ARTIST dies in most cases; with the same logic; PICASSO is utterly UGLY for someone; though he is been hanged at the RICH & FAMOUS.

[@song4night]

I'm sick of all the talking these 'experts' do. They always want to tell us how to think about art.

[@barrymoore4470]

@@song4night I don't perceive them telling anyone how to think, but inviting us to think, first of all, and offering various perspectives on which to reflect.

[@ExtremeObservations]

What?

[@speeksasfada]

etit

[@LiberalGarbageMedia]

ok but yall are hoarding it, not collecting it.

[@sv_vladimir_kolosov]

Гроб и два метра под землей. Весь модерн и все ваши потуги хвалиться временным удручают...

[@sofilufine]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@andreaandrea6716]

(6:44) OH DEAR GOD, Must we??? Really? When people begin TRYING to talk about Art... it is cringe worthy. I have seen this, heard this all my life... really, it HAS TO STOP. We don't dissect music or dance or literature or Architecture this way... AND IT IS JUST EMBARRASSING. It is artificial and silly. So, STOP IT! (It's also really pretentious). If you want to talk about it, take a page out of Sister Wendy's notebook. She talked about the Artist and their lives; what was going on.

[@gnomschild]

Is this bait? People talk about architecture, literature, and dance the exact same way...

[@andreaandrea6716]

@@gnomschild (I don't understand in what capacity you are using the word 'bait' ... can you please elucidate? I'm sincere!). It's the artificiality that is so annoying. I have not experienced quite this level of ridiculousness with other mediums (dance, lit, architecture), although, perhaps you have? It's the projection onto the piece that feels, not only invasive, but predatory. If someone looked at my work and began projecting their sht onto the piece (the story of what's behind it), I'd be furious. Each person will have a different take on what they see, but THAT is personal. For people to sit around and tell you 'what's what,' unless they have spoken to the Artist and this comes from the horse's mouth, then it's pretentious. It's also damaging because it makes people who DON'T do this think that they don't 'understand Art' and it makes them afraid of it.

[@archadeinteriors]

wow, with all your socio-political aims, you have succeeded in making a completely eccentric film about modern art, one that seems to llack any meat, called good old modern painting, and just a bunch of socio-political soup, very ethically balanced mind you,, and utterly boring

[@justinfitzpatrick013]

Listening to them talk makes me cringe

[@LaoZi2023]

Catherine Brinson could stand back and think more clearly on her narrative. Why does she have to make it about race and gender? Move beyond that and consider the historical context.

[@latetodagame1892]

Now I realize why I abhord the American Guggenheim! Kandinsky? Nonobjective art? 🤢🤮

[@user-gr2xb1vc5k]

Russian Art is great!

[@jnorth1000]

Why aren't any of Biden's paintings here, like 'Portrait of a Crackhead'?

[@kateroyax]

Best wishes from blind lady in Los Angeles! I paint by touch #kateroyax

[@billsmith380]

All art is a scam of self importance.

[@user-un5tl4nd8l]

Туфта это всё. После черного квадрата Малевича в абстракции больше нечего сказать...