ALFRED PARAMICO ASIAN COLLECTIBLES ISLAND INVESTING LUXURIOUS ROMANTIC COLLECTING TIME PASSION INVESTING IN THE BAHAMAS GETAWAYS FOR TWO PRIVATE AIR LUXURY HOMES Volume 4 | Issue 1

BEVERLY HILLS REAL ESTATE MARKET ON FIRE! Promontory Palace Sells for $70 million.

www.private-air-mag.com 1 ARTS & COLLECTIBLES AMAZING ARCHITECTURE, AMAZING ART THE GUGGENHEIM

By: Pamela Hughes

Pamela Hughes is president and owner of Hughes Design Associates, one of the premier interior design firms in the US, with offices in Florida and Washington, DC/VA. Pamela and her firm work throughout North America and the Caribbean creating luxury residences of incomparable style and beauty.

THE ARCHITECTURE curved shapes, seemingly without rhythm, THE ART Photos of this building show a spectacular create spectacular forms and undulating The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is part of and unique grouping of forms, which movement. Somehow, this eclectic mixture the Guggenheim institutions, which includes somehow create the unexpected and visually of shape and form, without a noticeable the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum moving symphony of an architectural pattern, and certainly without evident in New York and the Peggy Guggenheim masterpiece. symmetry, creates a serene, yet audacious Collection in Venice. architectural wonder. However, it is only when one is physically Each collection consists of diverse present, viewing the exterior from all angles The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao was built selections and perspectives of modern and and perspectives, and then walking into the between October 1993 and October 1997, contemporary works. interior space, does one fully realize the and was part of a massive re-invention of incredible beauty and sculptural elegance of the old port city of Bilbao. The museum What is so unique about the collection in this piece of modern architecture. was designed to be the highlight of this re- Bilbao, however, are the numerous displays invention, and is perfectly integrated into the of spectacular and oversized contemporary It was on my annual visit to Western surrounding urban areas. Plazas, pedestrian art pieces on its terraces and plazas. Europe that I had the privilege of seeing the walkways, open squares and expansive Guggenheim Bilbao first hand. terraces all give generous pedestrian access to , one of America’s foremost, most the building as well as to its exterior spaces. prolific and sometimes outrageous artists, It is breathtaking. commands one of the exterior public terraces Walking into the interior of the building, with Puppy. Throughout my life, I have been a student one is greeted with light and transparency of architecture and have followed the design to the exterior, due to the great mass and Puppy was completed in 1992 and is made and construction of the great buildings of curved shapes of glass walls, which were from a stainless steel frame embedded our time. My assumption was that the Frank constructed and installed in a complex metal with soil and flowering plants. The piece O. Gehry design would be another one of structure. The glass also protects the interior is imposing in scale and is literally always the 20th Century’s most noted avant-garde from heat and radiation. growing due to the thousands of potted buildings. plants used as its skin. Looking up in the 55 meters high atrium, one I was so wrong. of the most noted and idiosyncratic features Puppy is an extremely well known piece of the building’s design, one feels as if they throughout the world. It appeals to almost It is a truly breathtaking and spectacular are in a sacred, modern version of a 15th everyone! Who doesn’t love dogs and accomplishment, having the presence of Century cathedral. This mix of seemingly flowers? It is sentimental on a very grand a huge in the beautiful, recently unrelated complex configurations of volumes scale. Koons designed this contemporary renovated city of Bilbao. The museum is and proportions, covered by a great skylight, sculpture to create optimism, to amuse, constructed using interconnected shapes of creates an almost spiritual atmosphere. It is and to instill joy. Puppy stands guard at octagonal blocks of limestone, contrasted truly a breathtaking experience, and one that the museum, and continually has dog with curved and bent forms covered in surprised me greatly. I will forever be in awe lovers, flower lovers, and art lovers as its titanium. It is truly astonishing how the of this magnificent building. companions.

66 Private Air Luxury Homes www.private-air-mag.com 67 ARTS & COLLECTIBLES

Another colorful and amusing sculpture Rosenquist, , , entirely unique experience of space and time. by Jeff Koons,Tulips , was created between and Andy Warhol. Also included are major 1995 and 2004. These fantastically colored acquisitions by Robert Rauschenberg and The Museum also offers permanent shapes, made from high chromium stainless . collections of film and video art, and presents steel with transparent color coating, also numerous educational and experimental are immense in scale. Tulips, just like There is a great deal of incredible art to pieces. Puppy, makes you smile. These are tulips appreciate in this permanent collection. on a massive scale with simple shapes One of the major sculptural works in the The Guggenheim Bilbao also has special and highly fluorescent colors. Koons has collection is The Matter of Time, by Richard exhibitions. Currently on view is : amused us once more, treating us to seeing Serra. The sculpture fills an entire room, Half a Wind, A Retrospective, a look at the a commonplace object in a new, whimsical and is a piece of art that the viewer literally works of this pioneering performance artist. way. By manipulating scale and color, Koons walks through, sometimes getting lost. It On the other hand, there is a wonderful brings us a jaunty, buoyant, and colorful is comprised of eight different , retrospective of the painter , sculpture, which looks completely at home constructed from weathering steel, set in a known as one of the founding fathers of on the terrace at the Guggenheim Bilbao. series of spheres, sections of spheres, double . ellipses, and spirals. As to the permanent collection, one finds Following my visit the previous summer works from the most stellar artists of the Walking through the sculpture is akin to to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in 20th Century, concentrating on post-war walking through a maze, however with Venice (which I wrote about previously in painting and sculpture in America and larger shapes set in a pattern to create an this publication), a visit to the Guggenheim Europe. unforgettable, almost dizzying feeling of Bilbao was one of this year’s highlights on space in motion. my ever expanding quest for learning about Some of the artists represented in the and experiencing art. It is a truly unique, collection are Willem de Kooning, Robert It is truly a walk-able, large scale sculpture spectacular, and magnificent building and Motherwell, Gerhard Richter, James which gives the viewer (and walker) an collection.

68 Private Air Luxury Homes