- Title: SPAIN: THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM IN BILBAO IS GETTING READY FOR ITS GRAND OPENING
- Date: 15th October 1997
- Summary: BILBAO, SPAIN (OCTOBER 15, 1997) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1.LV/SLV/SV EXTERIORS OF BUILDING-WIDE WITH REFLECTION ON IVER/SIGN OF THE MUSEUM (4 SHOTS) 0.29 2.LV/SV MAIN HALL (2 SHOTS) 0.48 3.SV FRANK GHERY, ARCHITECT SAYING "THIS IS A BUILDING FOR ART IRST AND FOREMOST AND I THINK THAT THE ART LOOKS GOOD ERE, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED IT LOOKS GREAT HERE." (ENGLISH) 0.59 4.SLV GALLERY WITH BILLBOARDS 1.10 5.MCU GHERY SAYING "THE INTENTION IS TO HAVE OTHER ART INTERACT ITH THIS MUSEUM. I THINK THAT THE REASON THIS IS LIKE THIS HAS O DO WITH THE MEETING OF TWO CULTURES THE COMPLEXITY OF A NEW ORK INSTITUTION WITH ALL THE HIP, YOU KNOW, QUICK, BACK AND HE VERY SOLID, NOT UP TIGHT, BUT ITS A VERY DIFFERENT ULTURE." (ENGLISH) 1.53 6.LV GALLERY OF MASTERPIECES 1.57 7.CU AMEDEO MODIGLIANI'S "NUDE 1917" 2.00 8.CU VASILY KANDINSKY'S "COMPOSITION 8" 2.07 9.SLV GALLERY 2.13 10.CU PABLO PICASSO'S "LANDSCAPE AT CERET" 2.20 11.SLV/SV GALLERY 2.35 12.TV OF LARGE GALLERY 2.42 13.CU PAINTING PAN TO GALLERY 2.54 14.SV ANDY WARHOL'S 150 MULTI-COLORED MARILYNS 3.00 15.MCU THOMAS KRENS, DIRECTOR OF THE GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION, SAYING "THIS MUSEUM DOES THE TWENTIETH CENTURY BETTER THAN ANY THAT I KNOW AND WITHOUT GIVING UP ANYTHING ON QUALITY...AND MANY ARE." (ENGLISH) 3.37 16.LV/SV OF GALLERIES AND ARTWORK (3 SHOTS) 4.03 17.MCU KRENS SAYING "ITS A VERY SAD MOMENT AND WHEN WE'RE AT A POINT OF CELEBRATION, TO HAVE A SAD MOMENT LIKE THIS OBVIOUSLY DEPRESSES THE WHOLE GENERAL ACTIVITY BUT I ALSO...I KNEW ABOUT THIS POTENTIAL SINCE THE FIRST DAY I CAME HERE AND I KNEW SOMETHING LIKE THIS COULD HAPPEN. DO YOU ACT IN FEAR BECAUSE OF SOMETHING LIKE THIS? I DON'T THINK SO." (ENGLISH) 4.46 18.SV/CU FLOWER MEMORIAL FOR POLICE OFFICER KILLED IN FRONT OF THE MUSEUM BY ETA. (2 SHOTS) 5.02 19.LV MUSEUM 5.09 20.SV BASQUE POLICEMAN IN FRONT OF THE MUSEUM HOLDING A MACHINE GUN 5.16 21.SV PUPPY SCULPTURE IN FRONT OF THE MUSEUM PAN TO POLICE 5.27 22.LV MUSEUM 5.33 Initials P3 S3 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 30th October 1997 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BILBAO, SPAIN
- City:
- Country: Spain
- Reuters ID: LVA40F1DKTWUFUWTOWBXK0PB91IA
- Story Text: The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Northern Spain's Basque Country is getting ready for its grand opening to the public on Sunday (October 19), despite the recent killing of a police officer on its grounds.
Basques have been waiting for more than five years for completion of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, which is part of a city-wide rehabilitation project costing 24 billion pesetas (160-million- United States dollars) in tax money.
The art world is eager to see what is being called "the best collection of twentieth century art in the best building of our time".
Architect, Frank Ghery, said the museum lets the city, artists, and different cultures interact. "The intention is to have other art interact with this museum. I think the reason this is like this has to do with the meeting of two cultures. The complexity of a New York culture with all the hip, you know, quick, back, and the very solid, not up tight, but its a very different culture," he said.
On entering the 32.700 square-meter ship-like structure, a massive hall extends upward for the entire height of the building.
A huge plant hangs off of the third floor balcony and at the back, a glass wall fills the room with natural light.
Some critics have expressed concern that the grandiose building, with 19 galleries, on three floors, could overshadow its contents.
Ghery disagrees, saying that artists are tired of sterile museums used as neutral backdrops for their works. He said that many artists have thanked him for giving them an "important" building for art.
"I think the building is a building for art first and foremost, and I think the art looks good here, as far as I'm concerned, it looks great here," he said.
The ground floor contains three large galleries. The largest of them is filled with grand pieces of American pop art from the '70's like Andy Warhol's "150 multi-colored Marilyns".
The galleries on the second and third floors are filled with everything from neon sculptures to more classic contemporary art including Modgliani's "Nude 1917", Picasso's "Landscape at Ceret" or Kandinsky's "In the Black Square".
Thomas Krens, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York, says the whole collection is a chronological story of the twentieth century.
"I believe this museum does the twentieth century better than any that I know and without giving up anything on quality...and many are," he said.
Security is one other issue Krens has had to address after a Basque police officer was shot by an ETA separatist guerilla in front of the museum on Monday (October 13).
He said it was a very sad moment for the museum but added he was aware that something like this could happen.
The ETA member was hiding weapons in the plant-covered "puppy" sculpture outside the museum. He opened fire as the police officer was approaching him to ask for identification. The officer died the next day.
The museum will continue the celebrations on Saturday with a grand dinner gala and concert with the King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia as guests of honor. On Sunday, it will open to the general public.
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