Selections from the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Collection

The acquisitions program of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao focuses on collecting works created between the mid-20th century and the present day, complementing the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and forging a separate, unique identity. The guidelines that govern these acquisitions include the purchase of masterpieces and singular works by prominent contemporary and post-war artists; the commissioning of site-specific works for the interior and exterior spaces of Frank Gehry's building; and a particular emphasis on Basque and Spanish artists.

This show is the first in a series of exhibitions scheduled to take place over the next three years and revolving around the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Collection. It aims to offer an overview of the collection's most important works, revealing the connections between their respective contexts and providing a comprehensive vision of the purpose of the Collection, which currently includes 102 works by 62 different artists. This first exhibition focuses on the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, with the painting Untitled (1952–53) by Mark Rothko marking the chronological starting point of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Collection. On the one hand, it explores Abstract Expressionism through painters such as Willem de Kooning, Clyfford Still and Robert Motherwell, and on the other it addresses the works of American artists such as Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol, who dialogue with European contemporaries such as Yves Klein, Antonio Saura, and Basque sculptors Jorge Oteiza and Eduardo Chillida. The timing of this first presentation of the museum's artworks will also coincide with the publication of the first book offering an exhaustive exploration of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Collection.