"The commission for the museum building first came to Frank Lloyd Wright in 1943 from Hilla Rebay. The Baroness von Rebay was the curator of the 'non-objective' painting collection she had encouraged Solomon R. Guggenheim to purchase. Solomon R. Guggenheim desired an architectural environment in which to present these new works that would be as revolutionary as the paintings in his collection themselves."
"Guggenheim was always supportive of Wright, but his death in 1949, just six years after the project was begun, dealth a severe blow to the plans. It took thirteen years of patient struggle on the part of Wright to finally see his building start in construction, and even through the construction stages - from 1956 to his death in 1959, six months before the museum opened - the struggle waged on. During the sixteen years that this commission dragged on, it was to prove to be the most difficult and the most time-consuming of all Wright's work."
"The building that stands in New York today is very different from those early studies of 1944. The general concept of the building - one continuous ramp - remains, but with the acquisition of more parcels of property on the site and with the change of the program of the museum itself, different architectural solutions were required along the way. Seven complete sets of working drawings were prepared and finally, on August 16, 1955, ground was broken and construction began."
"When the corner at 88th Street was acquired in 1951, the spiral ramp was shifted back to the south. After this last shift was made, Wright, in response to the changing administrative requirements of the museum, suggested the constrction of a tall building behind the museum for a historical gallery, staff offices, workrooms, and storage. Rising behind the museunm would be an eleven-story structure. It was this 1951 design by Wright that served as precedent for the 1992 addition of a 'backdrop' building behind the museum."
I'm done.
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