DISCOVER GETXO
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is today the most important tourist icon in Euskadi. Just a 15-minute Metro ride from Getxo.
The Guggenheim Bilbao hosts exhibitions of art works belonging to the Guggenheim Foundation and itinerant exhibitions. Very soon the building proved to be one of the most spectacular deconstructive buildings. The museum claims to have not one flat surface in its entire structure. Part of the building is crossed by a raised bridge and the exterior is covered with titanium sheets and by a type of limestone that was very hard to find.
Viewed from the river, the building appears to be shaped like a ship paying tribute to the port city where it was erected. Its shiny panels look like fish scales, reminding us of the influence of organic forms present in many of Gehry’s works. Taking a bird’s-eye view, however, the building is flower-shaped. In its design, Gehry’s team made intensive use of computer simulations for the structures necessary to maintain the building, achieving shapes that would have been impossible to attain a few decades earlier.
Outside the Guggenheim we are also surprised to find large-scale sculptures like:
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Maman by Louise Bourgeois: This is the name given to the large sculpture of a spider by the French-American artist Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010). It is made of bronze, stainless steel and marble. It weights 22 tonnes and measures 10 metres high and 10 metres in diameter.
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Puppy by Jeff Koons, at the entrance to the museum: This is a sculpture by the United States artist Jeff Koons done in 1992. It is a steel structure covered with flowers and represents a West Highland White Terrier puppy. It stands opposite the Guggenheim Museum. It measures 1240 x 910 x 850 cm. (There is an exact copy in Peter M. Bryant’s estate in Connecticut).
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Tall Tree and the Eye A permanent installation by Anish Kapoor.
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Tulips by Jeff Koons.
Further information
Consult the official Guggenheim Museum Bilbao website
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How to reach the Guggenheim Museum from Getxo
- By Metro: from the Areeta, Gobela, Neguri, Aiboa, Algorta and Bidezabal stations on Line 1 to Moyua station. You can consult the underground service frequency on the official website: metro Bilbao
- By car:
