Peggy Guggenheim Collection Venice

Strictly speaking, all of Venice is in some ways an open air museum: palaces, churches and bridges all by famous architects. There is barely a religious building that does not conceal a painting from a more or less (but mainly more) famous Venetian master. Even the museums display art with much local colour – the republic of Venice and all its regions that would later make up Italy always had an over abundance of talented artists. It may appear somewhat bizarre in this context then that one of the most famous museums visited in Venice, was neither founded by an Italian nor displays any Italian art exhibits. The talk is about the foundation of Peggy Guggenheims – so called ‘Collezione Peggy Guggenheim Venezia’. Her art collection is an attraction for lovers of all things modern and in addition, due to its location and the eccentric biography of its founder, exercises a great appeal to young people who come to Venice.

A love of art seems to have run in Guggenheim’s blood. The billionaire from the USA could also of course afford her hobby. Peggy’s uncle –Soloman R. Guggenheim founded the museum of the same name in New York. Peggy inherited her enormous wealth at an early age due to tragic events – her father died in the sinking of the Titanic. Hence she had the means to promote art and artists and they took advantage of this. Rebellious and unconventional she caused a stir in New York’s society and became a pioneer of avant-garde.

Peggy gave artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, Jackson Pollock and Yves Tanguy attention and helped them to reach international stardom. This also applies to the German painter Max Ernst, to whom the patron was also married for two short years. In the forties the deep-pocketed American increasingly oriented towards Europe and eventually moved to Venice in 1947, where she bought the ‘Palace Venier dei Leoni’ located directly on the Grand Canal.

Here the collection of her favourite pictures can still be seen today – a first class collection of modern art which has no comparison to the other Guggenheim museums scattered across the world. From the garden the visitor can enjoy a fascinating view over activities of the Grand Canal and very close by one can also admire the sculptures from a range by Henry Moore. The garden is also a small burial site – here Peggy Guggenheim buried all of her beloved cats and dogs with a small monument dedicated to them.

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Tourist Guide Venice

Peggy Guggenheim Collection Venice