Finding 43: Alicia Patterson Guggenheim Portrait Bust in Laura Ziegler’s Studio

December 16, 2010

In the mid-1960s, Harry F. Guggenheim, third president of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, commissioned American artist Laura Ziegler to create a posthumous portrait of his wife, Alicia Patterson Guggenheim. The late Mrs. Guggenheim, who passed away in 1963, was editor and publisher of Newsday. In the photograph pictured here, we see the unfinished portrait bust of Guggenheim in the artist’s studio in Lucca, Italy. Behind the bust is a wall of photographs that Ziegler used as inspiration for the portrait. The current location of the bust is unknown.

—Amanda Brown, Archives Assistant

Finding 42: Photo Reproductions of Paper Cutouts by Josè Furlon

December 2, 2010

In a letter dated August 3, 1959, E. M. Karman of Long Beach, New York, writes to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum introducing the work of artist Josè Furlon. Furlon, long deceased by this time, created miniature silhouettes “of gossamer finish” out of black paper. The enclosed photo reproductions of Furlon’s paper cutouts show the intricacy of the artist’s work, although Karman notes that the originals are “a great deal more impressive.” In addition to describing Furlon’s dexterity with a pair of scissors, Karman informs the museum that he owns a “considerable collection of this fascinating art,” and that it is available for purchase. The museum often received similar unsolicited letters offering artwork and various unusual objects for sale. These items usually fell considerably outside the scope of the museum’s collection; they included coins, antique rugs, railway photographs, and stuffed birds.

—Shirin Khaki, Archives Assistant

Finding 41: Guggenheim International Award: International and Continental Selection Juries, 1956

November 18, 2010

The Guggenheim International Award (GIA) was established in 1956 to recognize international achievement in painting. In its early years, the GIA functioned as a global art competition that awarded $10,000 to an artist whose painting was selected by an international jury and subsequently approved by the Guggenheim Foundation. The document pictured here shows that countries were selected for inclusion in the GIA based on their representation in three international art associations: the International Association of Art Critics (AICA), the International Council of Museums (ICOM), and the International Association of Plastic Arts (IAPA). Each year that the GIA was held, it expanded to include additional countries.

—Rachel Chatalbash, Archivist

Finding 40: Charles Dockum’s Mobile Color Projector

November 10, 2010

Charles Dockum–artist, inventor, and experimental filmmaker–came to New York from California in 1952 in order to further develop his experiments with light and color projection. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation had funded Dockum’s work on his Mobile Color Projectors since 1942, and in 1952, the Foundation invited him to carry out his work at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, which he did until 1953. The plan featured here shows a proposed installation at the museum of the Mobile Color Projector, also known as MobilColor IV. In addition to stipulating the size of the projection screen, notations on the plan give lighting instructions such as “rooms should be completely dark—darker than for ordinary motion pictures.”

For Dockum, the abstract interplay of light and color produced by his machine could have a similar effect as that of a musical composition. In a 1952 report to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, he wrote, “the presentation of visual symphonies of light can be as magnificent and stirring, to both layman and artist, as are musical symphonies at their best. It is conceivable, therefore, that the presentation of mature visual symphonies in color will prove popular on any scale, but especially on a grand scale where a very large screen can lend impressive dimensions.”

—Amanda Brown, Archives Assistant