Comparative Criticism of Two Museums

Mark Moran Prof. Elizabeth Marlowe Masterpieces of Western Art November 8, 1999 Formal par of Two Museums The Frick Collection and The Guggenheim Museum argon both museums on 5th driveway in untested Yorks Upper East Side neighborhood, and they atomic number 18 both named for famous American tycoons from the early twentiethcentury. But their alikeities pretty untold end there. The Frick Collection is the former residence of steel tycoon henry Clay Frick who spent forty years assembling a wide-ranging assembly of graphics for his personal enjoyment.The Guggenheim Museum, on the other hand, was continuously intend as a public museum to display several(a) art exhibits. These primal differences are most evident in the architectural public figure of the constructions themselves the Frick building is a calm, warm house built for a family to live in while the Guggenheim building is a cold, public h only built to intromit hundreds of art enthusiasts at a time. The styles of the architecture are quite diametric, and they mull the very different styles of artistry intimate.Furthermore, the shapes and lay come forth of the buildings lend themselves to quite different think experiences for the visitor. From the outside, the only things the two buildings have in common is that they both drop an broad(a) block of 5thAvenue and they are both white. The Frick building, designed by architect Thomas Hastings, was built from 1913-1914 in the neo- unsullied style dominant in New York at the time. Classical arches, ionic columns, and outdoor gardens and fountains incite the viewer of an ancient Roman villa, much like fellow baron and art collector J. P.Gettys museum in Malibu, CA. Elaborate decoration oer the doorways and columns as well as ornamented atriums and statue niches further enhance the classic design and tranquil setting. The building is relatively horizontal, mainly genius story that sprawls out much lower than the towering buildings which surro und it. The Guggenheim building is solely the opposite. construct in 1956 from architect Frank Lloyd Wrights design, it is as much a vision of the future as Fricks house is an homage to antiquity. The Guggenheim is a giant 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 social organization 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 excessively shorter than the surrounding buildings. There are no life states inside the Guggenheim, fair one huge chamber with a long spiral that visitors are intended to wind down and view all the artwork from.Artwork is primarily installed along the prominent spiral, although there are also small retinue which come off the spir al ramp. Because visitors take the elevator to the top, they have nowhere to go but to follow the spiral down. This ensures that they see the artwork 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 do by architect John Russell Pope in the 1930s to exchange it for public use, the building largely retains the feeling of a house.Just as one would expect of a house, it is a mixture or narrow hallways, living areas, large banquet room, and outdoor courtyards which sprawl out in various directions from the entryway. The rooms are designed for comfort and practical living, not for expeditiously taking 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 viewing the assorted artwork inside, but also leaves the vis itor unsure of when he has finished eyesight the entire collection.Since the collection doesnt change much, seeing it all is not the point. Relaxing in the setting is. This very different interior designs present 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 chemical group of the pieces inside and Japanese vases sit right beside European paintings. Fricks coating was to collect pieces of art that he found pleasant to live with, careless(predicate) of their genre or origin.For this reason, he had a house built to wet-nurse 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 new-fashioned exhibit. One month it may be alm ost 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 essay off a particular theme or genre of artwork assembled by professional museum curators.Since the exhibits only last a few months, the museum encourages usurp 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 advanced(a) and challenging, just like the building. The design of the Frick residence is to inspire tranquility. The painting, sculpture, furniture, and pottery flap from the Renaissance to the late 19thcentury, and there are no idle or startling works in the collection.The buildings layout, from the pacifist(prenominal) fountains to the elegant columns and niches all enforce a feeling of serenity inside the building and o ut 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 theatre 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 act with their environments in a similar manner. Neither building is a large rectangle like the apartment buildings and consulate offices that tower over them.Their unusual designs which dominate entire blocks instead 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 Central Park and adds to the neighborhoods overall harmony. The unique shapes of these museums ask passersby to marvel 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 emotion in the viewer and thus achieve the same goal.