New expert for the Golden Trezzini Awards: Richard Armstrong, Director of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

News of the Awards

Richard Armstrong, Director of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, has joined the International Council of the Third Golden Trezzini Awards for Architecture and Design.

“As a steward of one of Frank Lloyd Wright's greatest achievements, I can attest to the magnetic power of architecture as art.” Mr. Armstrong said. “This award is particularly timely, as is properly originating from St Petersburg – among the world’s greatest demonstrations of the universal aspiration towards beauty.”

As Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, Richard Armstrong leads the Guggenheim Foundation and its constellation of museums, including the flagship Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice; the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao; and the future Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. Armstrong also serves on the Guggenheim Foundation Board of Trustees. He was named to the directorship in November 2008.

During Armstrong’s tenure, the Guggenheim has undertaken a number of innovative global initiatives aimed at broadening the geographical scope of the museum's collection and activities. Several programs focus primarily on Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East: the Asian Art Initiative; Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative; Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative; and the future Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum. Additional multi-disciplinary projects launched under Armstrong’s leadership include You Tube: Play, the mobile laboratory BMW Guggenheim Lab, and Guggenheim Social Practice. Armstrong also oversaw the Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition and the unrealized Guggenheim Helsinki project.

With an emphasis on scholarship, exploring lesser-known histories, and in-depth presentations of single artists, exhibitions presented under Armstrong’s direction include: Maurizio Cattelan: All; Italian Futurism 1909 to 1944; Picasso: Black and White; Christopher Wool; V.S. Gaitonde: Painting as Process Painting as Life; Zero: Countdown to Tomorrow 1950s-1960s; On Kawara; Alberto Burri: The Trauma of Painting; Doris Salcedo; Agnes Martin; Danh Vo; Giacometti; and Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future.

Prior to his directorship of the Guggenheim, Armstrong was the Henry J. Heinz II Director at Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (1996—2008).

From 1981 to 1992, Armstrong was a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 1980, he served on the Artists Committee to organize the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles. He began his career as a curator at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art in California (1975-79).

Armstrong serves on a number of foundation boards, and is a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD). A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Armstrong graduated from Lake Forest College in Illinois with a BA in art history, having studied at the Université de Dijon and the Université de Paris, Sorbonne.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1937 by philanthropist Solomon R. Guggenheim and his long-time art advisor, artist Hilla von Rebay. The foundation is a leading institution for the collection, preservation, and research of modern and contemporary art and operates several museums around the world.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is located in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously expanding collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions throughout the year. The museum was established by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1939 as the Museum of Non-Objective Painting. In 1959, the museum moved from its preliminary space to its current building, a landmark work of 20th-century architecture designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2019. The museum's collection has grown over decades and is founded upon several important private collections, beginning with that of Solomon R. Guggenheim.

The International Golden Trezzini Awards for Architecture and Design are named after Domenico Trezzini (1670—1734), the first architect of St. Petersburg and the founder of Petrine Baroque. The Awards have been held since 2018. The motto of the Awards is “Architecture as Art.” The Awards are intended to acknowledge and promote architectural and designer projects that amount to works of art. The Honorary Chairman of the International Council of the Awards is Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage, St. Petersburg. The Council uniquely includes directors of a number of leading art museums of the USA, Italy, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Finland, and the UAE.

Entries for the Third International Golden Trezzini Awards can be submitted at www.goldtrezzini.ru/en/ till October 15, 2020. Participation is free of charge.

The Golden Trezzini website users are welcome to vote for their preferred projects via Facebook, giving them a chance to win Premio del Pubblico Award. 150+ projects from Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Japan, India, Iran, Italy, Latvia, Lebanon, Mexico, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Spain, Syria, the UAE, and the USA are approved for participation at the moment.

The General Partner of the Golden Trezzini Awards is the State Museum of St. Petersburg History. The System Partner is RBI Group. Partner of a Special nomination is YIT. Official partner of the Awarding ceremony is LenRusStroy Building Corporation. Partner of the Awarding ceremony is Ganga Group. To see a full list of the Awards partners please check https://goldtrezzini.ru/en/partners-of-the-golden-trezzini-awards-2020/.

Photo: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation

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