What was New York’s Guggenheim Museum called when it opened in 1939?

New York’s Guggenheim Museum was called the Museum of Non-Objective Painting when it opened in 1939. The name reflected Solomon R. Guggenheim’s interest in abstract art that emphasized color, form, and visual relationships rather than recognizable subjects.

Before the permanent Fifth Avenue building existed, the museum operated in rented space at 24 East 54th Street in Manhattan. Its founding collection grew from Guggenheim’s interest in modern artists, particularly the work associated with Wassily Kandinsky and other pioneers of nonrepresentational painting. Hilla Rebay, an artist and adviser to Guggenheim, played an important role in shaping the collection and its presentation.

The institution later became the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, adopting the name of its founder. The change also reflected an expanding program that included a broader range of modern and contemporary art, rather than only non-objective painting.