Part 16: The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao

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The Trip

We were on a mission to see the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.  We drove the rental car on the coast highway from San Sebastian to Bilbao and returned the car at the Bilbao airport.  The return was easy since we paid for the full insurance on the vehicle, so they did not inspect it.  We had expected to be nickeled-and-dimed to death, thus the insurance decision.  We did take some door hits, and I expect that they would attempt to charge us for it.  We got a taxi from the airport to the hotel and dumped our bags and headed to the museum.  The museum was ultra-cool, but the contents were, um, suspect.  You can decide from the photos below.

The Photos

The photos below are what we saw.

A nice interpretation of a classic style in a new building across from the museum.

The topiary was unexpected, but apparently it is iconic in Bilbao.

There was an interesting structure next to the bridge that crosses the river.

Our first look at the exterior of the Gugg.

We walked to the center of the bridge and looked back on the museum.

The bridge itself was modern and a work of art.

Looking downriver we could see the newer parts of Bilbao.

The exterior of the museum was stunning.

Kathleen booked us reservations for lunch at the Michelin 5-star rated restaurant next to the museum.  The food was pricey, but excellent.  We had wine with lunch which had a predictable impact on our motivation.  The spider on the river boardwalk was a popular exhibit.

These polished spheres were assembled as a statue.  I am not sure how they clean this to maintain the polish.  The "fog" by the sidewalk was some kind of misting device to reduce the temperature.  It was pretty hot in the direct mid-day sun.

We went inside the museum and were blown-away with the architecture.

There were very few planar surfaces in the building.

Very nice stone tiles on multiple surfaces.

And, on to the art....well, it is modern art.  That comment, pretty much tells it all.

Some of the so-called "pop art" was acceptable.  Most of the really odd, even objectionable, art was not photographed.

Big with bold colors, a classic pop art image.

There were many instances of finger paint.  This would get you several stars for participation in 3rd grade.

Possibly interesting to some.

Graffiti looks better, IMHO.

The typographic errors threw me off, but still not interesting.

And finally, an exhibition that shows that pop-art is actually dead.

There were a number of Warhols on display.

Some of Warhol's work was interesting.

This Warhol work, while not as famous as the Marilyn Monroe, was noteworthy.

This piece was 3D and the combination of color and monochrome was interesting to me.

Excellent stone work, even on the curved surfaces.

This work was a bit hard to describe, but a view from overhead aids in understanding the effort.  These were big and presumably hard to transport.

A huge shuttlecock, meaning and symbolism unknown.

Rolled 1/4" diamond plate seems to be art.  I got spanked when I touched the pipe to insure it was as lame as I suspected.  One of the other, not noteworthy, works is visible over the top of the pipe.

Coming out of the hotel there was a large, ornate building across the river from the museum.

We got a taxi back to our hotel.  The hotel was very nice and was close to the "happening" part of town.  Our primary decision to stay there was that it hosts a 5-star restaurant and was really close to the train station.  Sadly for us, the restaurant was closed the night we were there.  Instead, we hiked to the central plaza and had an outstanding dinner at Victor Montez.

Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2024, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.