15 Things You Didn't Know About the Guggenheim Museum

The institution has a vast, exciting history.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City's Upper East Side has been known as a premiere art institution since its opening in 1959, that as a building, is art itself. Designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, it's a landmark of the city and hosts groundbreaking exhibitions time and time again. You may or not be familiar with the Guggenheim, but it has a design history that can't be ignored. See what we mean by checking out these 15 Things You Didn't Know About the Guggenheim Museum.

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In the entrance of the Guggenheim, there is a seal which reads "Let each man exercise the art he knows, which was said by Aristophanes in 422 B.C.

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Frank Lloyd Wright's original design for the museum featured a red facade, as he believed that "red is the color of creation."

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Frank Lloyd Wright created over 700 sketches for the design of the Guggenheim Museum.

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The Guggenheim was Frank Lloyd Wright's first commissioned project in Manhattan, despite his fame at the time.

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Frank Lloyd Wright felt the need to design every single element of the museum, down to the chairs.

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The ramp of the museum, from the bottom to the dome, is 1,416 feet total or over a quarter of a mile long.

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Frank Lloyd Wright intended to keep motorized wheelchairs in the museum for those who wanted to experience the museum while seated.

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In 1954, LIFE magazine published an article titled "New Art Museum Will Be New York's Strangest Building," mirroring the widespread skepticism towards Frank Lloyd Wright's design.

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President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent a congratulatory note to be read at the opening ceremonies of the Guggenheim on October 21, 1959, 16 years after the conception of the plans for the museum.

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The Guggenheim Museum building became a National Historic Landmark on October 6, 2008.

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