1 Annual Report Guggenheim Museum Bilbao 2016 Introduction 4 Art Program 8 Education and Interpretation 24 Visitors 32 Individual Members 33 Corporate Members 35 Press 38 Store/Booskstore 41 Publications 42 Management Model 43 Impact 44 Code of Ethics 45 Prizes and Awards 46 Conferences 47 VIPs 48 Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Foundation 51 Photo credits 52 CONTENTS 4 5 For the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, 2016 was a positively good year. In terms of visitor numbers, last summer was the best Both shows complemented the selection of Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Collection which remains on in the Museum’s history, and the annual total of 1,169,404 visitors was second only to the record numbers of its opening year. display as a semi-permanent presentation of the some of the Museum’s most significant holdings. The splendid results detailed in this report are a reflection of the Museum’s continuous efforts to reinvent itself, devise a very ambitious, high-quality exhibition program, and offer activities imbued with a pedagogical spirit that enhance the experience The exhibitions on the second floor presented a fabulous selection of Louise Bourgeois’s renowned Cells, allowing visitors to of those who come to the Museum and enrich the local cultural scene. step into the complex universe of this Franco-American artist, and fifty stunning paintings by Francis Bacon next to works by his Spanish and French masters, revealing the profound influence of those earlier paintings on Bacon’s singular oeuvre. The shows in 2016 featured some of the fundamental names in 20th-century art and important selected works from international collections. Finally, the ‘Views of Contemporary Art’ on the first floor welcomed Andy Warhol’s evocative reflections on abstraction in the 102 canvases that comprise his Shadows, the latest creations of German painter Albert Oehlen, and video installations by The third floor of the Museum, dedicated to the ‘Foundations of Today’s Art,’ hosted extraordinary exhibitions such as Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Sam Taylor-Johnson, and Fiona Tan, three exponents of cutting-edge media art, on view in the Film & Video Windows on the City: The School of Paris, 1900–1945, with some of the most significant paintings and sculptures of the early Gallery. 20th century from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (the first of the biennial presentations included in the renewal of the Management Agreement signed in 2014), and The Collection of Hermann and Margrit Rupf, a selection of But visitor numbers and the art program’s international impact are not our only concerns: the Museum also aspires to works in the Kunstmuseum Bern, mostly acquired by a visionary couple who saw the potential of artists like Picasso, Braque, promote collective education with numerous proposals and tools for making art more accessible to the general public. The Gris, Kandinsky, and Klee and purchased their brand-new creations before they became leading names in the History of Art. Museum therefore holds itself to a higher standard of responsibility, striving to achieve ambitious goals not only in the field of PRESENTACIÓN 6 INTRODUCTION 7 An important factor in the positive results of 2016 was the unconditional support of our Individual Members, now 16,350, and our 120 Corporate Members, companies that share and embrace the Museum’s values, contribute to its financial solvency, and play an invaluable role as sponsors and patrons of culture and the arts. In other highlights of the year, the impact of Museum operations on the local economy continued to register impressive figures. For instance, last year visitors to the Museum generated a total expenditure of 485.3 million euros in the Basque Country, and the institution contributed to maintain 9,086 jobs and garnered the Basque treasuries an additional 65.8 million euros in tax revenue. Ending the year on a high note, in the final quarter we hosted a series of concerts by the German band Kraftwerk to kick off the celebrations leading up to the museum’s 20th Anniversary in October 2017. Exactly twelve months before the official date, we launched an exciting year-long commemorative program under the art but also in the educational and social spheres. In this respect, I feel it is important to highlight some of our most significant theme “Art Changes Everything.” community outreach initiatives, which may not be as visible as others but are tremendously important to the institution. These include our initiatives carried out at centers for socially vulnerable groups, our ongoing projects at different local The exceptional exhibitions, activities, and events planned for our Anniversary celebrations guarantee that 2017 will be a year hospitals, and the recently launched educational programs in collaboration with centers that offer holistic care for children, filled with special projects, initiatives, and more than a few surprises. teens, and adults with psychiatric disorders. It is also a great personal satisfaction for me to announce that, for the second year in a row, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao was ranked as the “most transparent museum in Spain” by Fundación Compromiso y Transparencia. We at the Museum are Juan Ignacio Vidarte keenly aware of the widespread concern about the proper management of public funds and of the tremendous responsibility Director General we have as an internationally renowned institution that represents the Basque Country, and this knowledge has motivated us Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to step up our commitment to transparency by implementing a Compliance Program that includes our Code of Ethics and Best Practices, as well as an internal monitoring and surveillance system to avoid or mitigate the risk of criminal activity and swiftly detect any irregularities I would also like to note that our Store/Bookstore has once again been ranked among the ten best museum shops in the world; in 2015 this distinction was awarded by The Guardian, and in 2016 the Museum appeared on the list published by the Swiss contemporary art and design journal Widewalls. 8 9 Mark Rothko, Untitled (1952–53). Oil on canvas, 299.5 x 442.5 cm. Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa THE FOUNDATIONS OF ART TODAY TOP: Two panels from Francesco Clemente’s pictorial cycle Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Collection Mother’s Room (La stanza della madre, 1995–97). BOTTOM LEFT: Opened on November 27, 2015 Three canvases from Georg Baselitz’s series Mrs. Lenin and The Galleries 301, 302, 303, 304 Nightingale (2008). BOTTOM RIGHT: Sculptures by Jorge Oteiza, Metaphysical Box by Conjunction of Two Trihedrons: Homage CURATED BY Lucía Agirre to Leonardo (Caja metafísica por conjunción de dos triedros. NO. OF WORKS: 31 Homenaje a Leonardo) and Empty Box with Large Opening (Caja ONGOING vacía con gran apertura), both 1958 PROGRAMACIÓN 10 ART PROGRAM 11 Vista de una de las salas de la exposición dedicada a Jean-Michel Basquiat; a la izquierda, El ring (The Ring, 1981) Gallery 205 with Pablo Picasso’s Le Moulin de la Galette, autumn 1900. Oil on canvas. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Thannhauser Collection. Gift, Justin K. Thannhauser 78.2514.3 TOP: Constantin Brancusi, Adam and Eve (Adam et Eve), 1921. Chestnut (Adam) and oak (Eve) on limestone base. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Thannhauser Collection. Gift, Justin K. Thannhauser THE FOUNDATIONS OF TODAY’S ART 78.2514.34; The Sorceress (La sorcière), 1916–24. Walnut on limestone base. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York 56.1448; King of Kings (Le roi des rois), ca. 1938. Walnut. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Windows on the City: The School of Paris, 1900-1945 New York 56.1449. BOTTOM LEFT: other works in the show with Raymond April 22–October 23, 2016 Duchamp-Villon’s bronze sculpture Maggy, 1912. BOTTOM RIGHT Robert Galleries 305, 306, 307 Delaunay, Circular Forms (Formes circulaires), 1930. Oil on canvas. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim CURATED BY Lauren Hinkson Founding Collection 49.1184; and Marc Chagall, Green Violinist NO. OF WORKS: 54 (Violiniste), 1923–24. Oil on canvas. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NO. OF VISITORS: 762,548 New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Founding Collection, By gift 37.446 12 ART PROGRAM 13 LEFT: in the background, Carlos Bunga, Pictorial Construction #11K (Construcción pictórica #11K), 2016. Wood, cardboard, paint, and glue, 180 × 150 × 10 cm; and Christian Megert, THE FOUNDATIONS OF TODAY’S ART White Painting No. 3 (Weisses Bild Nr. 3), 1936. Caparol binder, lithopone, and white pigment on jute, oil on Pavatex, 101.5 × 141.5 cm. TOP RIGHT: James Lee Byars, The Philosophical The Collection of Hermann and Margrit Rupf Stones, 1975. Red and yellow sandstone, hole, and gold leaf. November 11, 2016–April 23, 2017 Two parts, each 19 cm in diameter (without the base). BOTTOM Galleries 305, 306, 307 LEFT: Hans Arp, Concretion (Konkretion), ca. 1947/ca. 1960. Marble, 40 x 51 x 35.5 cm. BOTTOM RIGHT: Florian Slotawa, CURATED BY Susanne Friedli y Petra Joos Bernese Pedestals (Berner Sockel), 2010. Set of four sculptures, NO. OF WORKS: 75 various materials, dimensions variable.All works: Hermann und NO. OF VISITORS: 119,750 [as of Dec. 30, 2016] Margrit Rupf-Stiftung, Kunstmuseum Bern 14 ART PROGRAM 15 Gallery 203 during the exhibition dedicated to Louise Bourgeois’s Cells. In the foreground, Cell (The Last Climb), 2008. Steel, glass, rubber, thread, and wood. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Purchased 2010 TEMPORARY EXHIBITION Louise Bourgeois. Structures of Existence: The Cells March 18–September 4, 2016 Galleries of the second floor CURATED BY Julienne Lorz and Petra Joos Louise Bourgeois Spider, 1997. Steel, tapestry, wood, glass, fabric, rubber, silver, gold, NO. OF WORKS: 91 and bone. The Easton Foundation. NO. OF VISITORS: 679.532 Precious Liquids, 1992. Wood, metal, glass, alabaster, rubber, fabric, Exhibition organized by Haus der Kunst, Munich, in collaboration with the embroidery, water, and electric light.