I've never been to the Guggenheim but I saw a story about this collection ending on 1/22. Has anyone seen it? Any other thoughts on the museum? I'm thinking of spending a day in the city and wondering if I should try something new. Thanks!

I confess that I know nothing about Maurizio Cattelan, but the museum itself is not by any means a must-see attraction (or even in my opinion a might want to see attraction) unless you are interested in the special exhibit. For free, you can walk in, take in the atrium, and walk out. That's what I normally suggest for most tourists. The permanent collection is among the weakest of major museums in the city. The Neue Galerie is much more interesting.

Thank you! CBS Sunday morning did a piece on it and it looked fun. But not enough to go just for that. And it isn't cheap either.

One SIL saw it last week. She said it was most interesting, if not vertigo inducing. I do not like the permanent collection and I find walking on a bias a bit disconcerting and uncomfortable.

My wife went last weekend and loved it.

Agree that the permanent collection is weak.

I'll keep it as a maybe, but probably skip it (even though it really looks fun). If it's cold I'd rather go to a museum I'll spend more time in. If we get a surprise 50 degree day I'll check out the High Line. My days alone in the city are precious and few these days.

I found the exhibit to be very powerful, but the city has so much art to take in, you could certainly explore something new. We just saw Ai Weiwei's 'Sunflower Seeds' this weekend in Chelsea, which is worth checking out -- here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PueYywpkJW8
Have a great trip!

Doug's comments are right on the mark!

I saw it a few months ago, I do know about Cattelan's art and wanted to see it b/c of all the love/hate relationship he has with art critics, and b/c supposedly he is going to retire from making art.

I wrote about the show in my trip report
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...omment-7390595

My final museum for this trip is the Guggenheim to see the Maurizio Cattelan retrospective. Titled All, the retrospective hung ALL of Cattelan's work from the museum's oculus, like a giant funhouse mobile.
http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/e...o-cattelan-all

There are a total of 128 pieces, and as I go up the ramp, I get to see each one of them from various perspective. In a way, I suppose one can view it as one giant piece of composite work. However, I feel many of them have lost its punch and sarcasm by being taken out of context. Most of Cattelan's works were created for a specific site; they just don't deliver the same humor when hung in mid-air. Moreover, some of the works are so tiny that I can't see them clearly from the ramp. I still enjoyed it a lot and found myself giggling at many of the works (eg, the baby elephant hiding beneath a white sheet; or the ostrich burying its head into a particle board with wood chips surrounding its neck), but wish the installation was different.

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If you do go, consider getting their Ipod app on the show - it provides much more back story to every piece so you actually know what it's about.

Several years ago, DH & I went to the Guggenheim and took an architecture tour of the museum, as we are both FLW fans. The architecture tour was excellent, but I don't know if they're still being offered or not.

Apart from the Cattelan show, there are also permanent collection on view in the side galleries. One of them is on Kandinsky.

P.S. I know Doug said you can walk into the Guggenheim lobby/atrium for a peek and leave w/o paying. HOWEVER, they are NOT allowing that right now for the Cattelan show because of the way the current exhibition is installed. There is a guard standing right inside the revolving doors - and unless you're going to the ticket line, the guard will NOT let you get pass him for a peek. (Yes, I know that b/c I tried!)

Thanks for adding that, yk. That's something I hadn't considered.

YK - thank you for confirming what I suspected. Personally, I would spend a day at MOMA. I just did a post about MOMA membership math.

http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/expl...ship-math.html