MUSEO GUGGENHEIM

The famous Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, inaugurated with great pomp by King Juan Carlos I in 1997, is no longer on display. Like its cousin in New York, the Bilbao Museum presents a bold architecture to house the contemporary art collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Canadian architect Frank Gehry has designed a large titanium sculpture, whose undulating shapes emerge from the edges of the ría, erasing the memory of the docks left abandoned by the industrial crisis of the 1990s. This organically shaped "titanium flower" revolves around a central atrium giving access to some twenty galleries spread over three floors, occupying more than 10,000 m² of exhibition space. Topped by a zenithal dome, the atrium is the beating heart of the museum. Its prodigious design invites you to stroll from one room to another while enjoying the sumptuous panorama of the river. In addition to its major temporary exhibitions, the museum presents a permanent collection of works by the most important artists of the last fifty years: significant examples of pop art, minimalism, abstract expressionism, conceptual art, etc. Contemporary Basque and Spanish art is also well represented, with works by Jorge Oteiza, Eduardo Chillida, Antonio Saura, Juan Muñoz, Miquel Barceló and Antoni Tàpies. Among the museum's flagship works and installations are the following:

Puppy (1992), guardian of the museum's doors, is the work of the American artist Jeff Koons. This giant West Highland Terrier (13 metres high) is covered with thousands of flowers irrigated by a complex system.

Mom. This impressive sculpture by Louise Bourgeois stands almost 9 metres high at the entrance to the museum. Entirely made of bronze and steel, Maman (1999) belongs to a series inspired by spiders.

Tulips. Placed on the museum's terrace, these tulips (1995-2004) imagined by Jeff Koons fill the space with colour and optimism.

Fog Sculpture #08025. This "fog sculpture" (1998) by Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya shows a certain affinity with land art by using fog as a sculptural element.

Fire Fountain. This alignment of five "fountains of fire" placed on a basin is the work of the French artist Yves Klein.

The Matter of Time. A monumental ensemble of eight spiral-shaped steel sculptures, The Matter of Time (1994-2005), a work by the American Richard Serra, questions time and our perception of space.