ARTINFO – The Guggenheim has a decidedly mixed track record with launching new satellite branches. It has one spectacular success under its wing, the Guggenheim
Bilbao, credited with revitalizing the economy of a region of Spain
once mainly known as a hotbed of separatism, and an upcoming coup is in the works with the
gargantuan Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, set to open in 2013. These achievements, however, have been balanced by go-nowhere projects in Brazil, Hong Kong, and Mexico, and an ill-starred collaboration with St. Petersberg’s Hermitage for a Guggenheim Las Vegas. But whether they fail or succeed, these projects have become a lucrative business in itself for the museum — as well as its former director, Thomas Krens — as evidenced by today’s announcement that the Finnish capital of Helsinki is paying the Guggenheim Foundation $2.5 million just to engage in a “feasibility study” on the possibility of launching a new Guggenheim Helsinki.

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