The spectacular building of the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, designed by the North American architect Frank O. Gehry, was opened to the public in 1997, and in its first year alone received 1 300 000 visitors, a record figure in Spanish museum history.

The first thing that strikes the visitor is the uniqueness of the building that houses the museum, designed for the service of art and providing a sculptural backdrop to the city. The interconnected rooms of unequal sizes create enormous exhibition halls, linked by glass walls which make the whole building transparent.

11 000 m2 of exhibition space are divided into 19 galleries. 10 of them have a rather classical appearance, and are easily recognisable from outside by their stone walls. In contrast, the other 9 rooms are remarkably different and can be identified from outside by their titanium coating.

The large scale paintings have their own particular space: an exceptional gallery, 30 m wide and 130 m long, unencumbered by pillars and with a special floor designed to withstand the constant passing of visitors and the weight of the works it contains.

The Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao was designed to bring together and interpret the most representative art of our time, promoting artistic education and public knowledge. Although the museum was intended to function as a living place, in a continuous state of change thanks to the rotations of artistic styles and works, there is nonetheless a noteworthy section dedicated to the Permanent Collection of the museum, composed of works derived from the collections belonging to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Peggy G. Guggenheim Collection and the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum. These three collections together represent a complete perspective of the art of the 20th century. The collections of the museum currently include works by some of the most important artists from the second half of the 20th century, like Eduardo Chillida, Yves Klein, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Clyfford Still, Antoni Tàpies and Andy Warhol, amongst others.

The museum also contains a library specialising in 20th century art, designed for researchers and students and also for the general public.