Many say the most important piece of art in The Guggenheim collection is the building itself.

And that's saying something, for this graceful "white ribbon curled into a cylindrical stack" houses works by Wassily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall, Robert Delaunay, Paul Klee, and Pablo Picasso, to name a few.

You could say this New York building stands as a testament to the courage of two men to push the envelope in their respective fields.

Solomon Guggenheim's passion was for modern art -- which his art advisor Hilla Rebay called "non-objective" art, "signifying the spiritual dimensions of pure abstraction." Guggenheim began to collect works by modern artists in 1929, showing them at first in his own apartment. His collection grew until finally, in 1943, he commissioned this magnificent, deliciously controversial structure by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who staved off nay-sayers, vowing that his museum would make the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art "look like a Protestant barn."

Fifteen years, 700 sketches and six sets of working drawings later, the world was graced with this wonder, which would confound many (critics dubbed it "the washing machine" and the "inverted oatmeal dish") ... then soon become revered as a great artistic achievement and architectural icon. Sadly, by the time it was finished, both Guggenheim and Wright had passed away.

We'll be hearing a lot about The Guggenheim as it approaches its half-century mark next year. Architects, structural engineers and conservators have been busily giving her the once-over, buffing her up for the Big Five-Oh. But today, we gladly celebrate 49 years to the day that we've enjoyed this building and all its marvels, thanks to a couple of 20th-century envelope-pushers.

The Guggenheim opened its doors to the public on October 21, 1959.

For more visit the official site for The Guggenheim.

- Ugo