Guggenheim Bilbao

Sunday March 22 was cloudy, but it didn't rain!  High around 10C.  We walked to the bus station, which was in a new direction for us.  As we were buying our tickets, a group of runners, walkers and bikers went by, celebrating Basque language day.

Basque flag

Celebrating Basque language day

We took the 11:30 a.m. bus to Bilbao to go to the Guggenheim Museum.  As we pulled out, I noticed this lovely plaque in a a park.  The men were wearing traditional Basque hats.

Basque dance

The trip took just over an hour.  We prepared ourself for our visit to Bilbao by listening to Dee Dee Bridgewater's wonderful version of Bilbao Song on Alano's iPod.  We took a five minute ride on the tram to the Guggenheim Bilbao.  Our expectation had been high for the Frank Gehry building and it didn't disappoint.  It far exceeded expectations.

The museum opened in 1997, and has transformed a provincial city of 355,000 into what Gehry has called a laboratory for contemporary architecture.  Over 1,000,000 people visit each year.  As we were in the off-season, there were not too many visitors.

One side of the building

"The Puppy" by Jeff Koons was installed when the museum opened and was supposed to be there only temporarily.  There was a outcry from children in Bilbao and "The Puppy" is here to stay.  They change the flowers in May.

Jeff Koons -Puppy (1992)

Side view of Puppy

The audio guide had a long introduction to the building, which included an interview with Frank Gehry.  He stated that he had always had a fascination with fish, as he used to go to Kensington Market in Toronto with his father to buy carp.  I know from other interviews that the family used to keep the carp in their bathtub in their small house on John Street.  The gleaming titanium tiles that sheath most of the building are like giant fish scales.  Gehry stated that it took almost a year of experimentation to get the material right for the scales.

The site was an industrial wasteland, part of a decaying warehouse district on the banks of Ria de Bilbao.  A pool was created around the museum, which looks like it merges with the adjoining River.  The inside of the museum has a large soaring atrium, with galleries off to the sides.  The building also fits in with Bilbao's historical industries of shipbuilding and fishing.  There are some very large galleries and there are three floors of exhibition spaces.  

Atrium

View looking up in atrium

Inside- elevator on right

There are some incredible sculptures outside of the building.  These include Jeff Koons' Tulips (1995-2004) and Anish Kapoor's- Tall Tree and the Eye, 2009.  The two exhibits offered during our visit were The Art of Our Time: Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Collections and a major retrospective of Franco-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2000), a self-taught artist and feminist whose work is very political. There is also a permanent installation in a huge gallery on the main floor by Richard Serra entitled The Matter of Time (1994-2005).

                                                                       Jeff Koons- Tulips 1995-200

In front of tulips with my audio guide

Niki de Sant Phalle sculpture

Dancing up a storm with Niki's women

There also was a piece by Daniel Buren on a nearby bridge entitled Red Arches (2007).

Red Arches

Amish Kapoor- Tall Tree and the Eye

Hard to stop photographing the building

The Richard Serra piece is amazing.  He deals with space and motion and one can wander through and around the sculpted forms.  In an interview on the audio guide, Serra talks about Cezanne's pictures of fruit and the space around them.  Interestingly, Raoul Dufy talked about the same phenomenon in the show we saw in Madrid.

Richard Serra- The Matter of Time 

Alano with the Serra

There was no photography permitted in the temporary exhibits, but I managed to take a few pictures (some are from the internet).

Ai Wei Wei- China Log-- amazing piece with map of China in the centre of the log

There was a whole room devoted to the Smiles series by Alex Katz (1994).  Eleven paintings of smiling women against a black background.

Alex Katz- from the Smiles series

There was also a large piece by Robert Rauschenberg entitled Barge (1962-63).

We enjoyed the Art of Our Time Exhibit which was well presented in galleries on the First and Second floor.  We then went to see the Niki de Saint Phalle retrospective on the Third floor.  Saint Phalle was born in France, then moved to the United States and then back to France.  She was an early feminist and her art was quite radical.  In the 1960s she moved to Paris and produced her Shooting Painting series.  She would place bags of paint on a canvas, that might also have plaster objects, and shoot at them with rifles.  It was early performance art--- she took Jackson Pollock's action paintings to a new level.

A young Niki de Saint Phalle

Self- Portrait- 1959   (Saint Phalle was very taken with Gaudi)

She did a series of very large works which she called Nanas, that revolutionized the depiction of women in art.  She also linked the civil rights and feminist movements in her art.  One sculpture was a tribute to Rosa Parks.

This piece dealt with mothers  (Niki had a complex relationship with her mother)

Her mother at her dressing table

There was a large piece entitled Pirodactyl over New York (1962) made up of paint, plaster and various objects on two wood panels. 

A later work- Mask

These totems were done for a park in California

Saint Phalle also produced a significant number of public artworks in her lifetime, such as the Tarot Garden in Tuscany and Stravinsky Fountain in Paris.  She was really influenced by Anton Gaudi's Parc Guell in Barcelona.

We then headed back outside to walk around the building and check out all the angles.

Large fish shaped structure with the pool

In front of the Kapoor

View of the arches in the background

Building with surrounding pool

There was a Louise Bourgeois spider- Maman (1999) outside the museum.  It reminded us of the one outside the National Gallery in Ottawa.

                                   Maman- 1999

We took the two-car LRT back to the bus station.  The station was very crowded as it turned out there had been a holiday on Thursday and lots of folks were heading back to San Sebastian.  The line was very long a few minutes before the bus was supposed to leave.  At the last moment, everyone was sent to pay on the bus.  We only left about five minutes late.

The Guggenheim stop

Two-car LRT on dedicated line

As it was Sunday, we weren't sure what restaurants would be open, so we stopped on the way back to the Pension, at a buzzy place on the main floor of the Astoria7, a hotel where each room features an actor.  There were posters and memorabilia throughout the restaurant and lobby.  San Sebastian has a big film festival, and there were photos of actors with their awards.  When we were booking our Pension, we had thought of staying at this hotel.  However, it is a bit far from the centre of the city and Old Town and a bit pricier than we wanted to pay.  We're glad we made the choice we did, but it was fun to see all the posters and pics.

                                                                   Meryl Streep 2008

Poster on wall of Astoria7 Hotel

 Counter where we sat

We shared a plate of patatas braves and a pintxo of veal cheeks. 

Different presentation of patatas bravas

We got back to the Pension at around 9:00 p.m.   It was our first early evening, but we were both tired from the trip.  The Guggenheim Bilbao was definitely worth the visit.