The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily con ...

on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro ''

sestiere A (plural: ) is a subdivision of certain Italian towns and cities. The word is from (‘sixth’), so it is thus used only for towns divided into six districts. The best-known example is the ''sestieri'' of Venice, but Ascoli Piceno, Genoa, Mi ...

'' of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, Italy. It is one of the most visited attractions in Venice. The collection is housed in the , an 18th-century palace, which was the home of the American heiress

Peggy Guggenheim Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim ( ; August 26, 1898 – December 23, 1979) was an American art collector, bohemian and socialite. Born to the wealthy New York City Guggenheim family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down wi ...

for three decades. She began displaying her private collection of modern artworks to the public seasonally in 1951. After her death in 1979, it passed to the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation 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, preserv ...

, which opened the collection year-round from 1980. The collection includes works of prominent Italian

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abo ...

s and American

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

s working in such genres as Cubism, Surrealism and abstract expressionism. It also includes sculptural works. In 2017,

Karole Vail Karole P. B. Vail (born 1959) is an American museum director, curator and writer. Since 2017, she has been the director of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Director for Italy. Prior to this appointment, ...

, a granddaughter of Peggy Guggenheim, was appointed Director of the collection, succeeding Philip Rylands, who led the museum for 37 years.

Collection

The collection is principally based on the personal art collection of

, a former wife of artist

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealis ...

and a niece of the mining magnate,

Solomon R. Guggenheim Solomon Robert Guggenheim (February 2, 1861 – November 3, 1949) was an American businessman and art collector. He is best known for establishing the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Guggen ...

. She collected the artworks mostly between 1938 and 1946, buying works in Europe "in dizzying succession" as World War II began, and later in America, where she discovered the talent of

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...

, among others.Walsh, John
"The Priceless Peggy Guggenheim"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', October 21, 2009, accessed March 12, 2012 The museum "houses an impressive selection of modern art. Its picturesque setting and well-respected collection attract some 400,000 visitors per year", making it "the most-visited site in Venice after the Doge's Palace".Penketh, Anne
"Peggy Guggenheim's family revive feud by suing foundation over art collection"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 19 May 2014 Works on display include those of prominent Italian futurists and American modernists. Pieces in the collection embrace Cubism, Surrealism and abstract expressionism. During Peggy Guggenheim's 30-year residence in Venice, her collection was seen at her home in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni and at special exhibitions in Amsterdam (1950), Zürich (1951), London (1964), Stockholm (1966), Copenhagen (1966), New York (1969) and Paris (1974). Peggy, Marseille37

Among the artists represented in the collection are, from Italy,

De Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...

(''The Red Tower, The Nostalgia of the Poet'') and Severini (''Sea Dancer''); from France, Braque (''The Clarinet''), Metzinger (''

Au Vélodrome ''Au Vélodrome'', also known as ''At the Cycle-Race Track'' and ''Le cycliste'', is a painting by the French artist and theorist Jean Metzinger. The work illustrates the final meters of the Paris–Roubaix race, and portrays its 1912 winner Cha ...

''), Gleizes (''

Woman with Animals ''Woman with Animals'', originally referred to as ''La dame aux bêtes'' and ''Portrait de Mme D.V.'' or ''Madame Raymond Duchamp-Villon'', is a painting created late 1913 and completed during the month of February, 1914, by the French artist, th ...

''),

Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

(''Sad Young Man on a Train''), Léger (''Study of a Nude'' and ''Men in the City'' )

Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism ...

(''Very Rare Picture on Earth''); from Spain, Dalí (''Birth of Liquid Desires''), Miró (''Seated Woman II'') and Picasso (''The Poet, On the Beach''); from other European countries, Brâncuși (including a sculpture from the '' Bird in Space'' series),

(''The Kiss, Attirement of the Bride''),

Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo, ...

(''Woman with Her Throat Cut, Woman Walking''), Gorky (''Untitled''),

Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...

(''Landscape with Red Spots, No. 2, White Cross''),

Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

(''Magic Garden''), Magritte (''Empire of Light'') and Mondrian (''Composition No. 1 with Grey and Red 1938, Composition with Red 1939''); and from the US, Calder (''Arc of Petals'') and Pollock (''The Moon Woman, Alchemy'')."Collections"
, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, accessed 10 March 2012 In one room, the museum also exhibits a few paintings by Peggy's daughter

Pegeen Vail Guggenheim Pegeen Vail Guggenheim (August 18, 1925 – March 1, 1967) was a Swiss-born American painter. Her painting combines two different artistic styles: surrealism and naïve art. She was the daughter of the art collector Peggy Guggenheim and the ...

. In addition to the permanent collection, the museum houses 26 works on long-term loan from the Gianni Mattioli Collection, including images of Italian futurism by artists including Boccioni (''Materia'', ''

Dynamism of a Cyclist ''Dynamism of a Cyclist'' (''Dinamismo di un Ciclista'') is a 1913 painting by Italian Futurist artist Umberto Boccioni (1882–1916) that demonstrates the Futurist fascination with speed, modern methods of transport, and the depiction of the dyn ...

''), Carrà (''Interventionist Demonstration''), Russolo (''The Solidity of Fog'') and Severini (''Blue Dancer''), as well as works by Balla, Depero, Rosai, Sironi and Soffici. In 2012, the museum received 83 works from the Rudolph and Hannelore Schulhof Collection, which has its own gallery within in the building.Ruiz, Cristina and Hannah McGivern
"Heirs of Peggy Guggenheim sue New York foundation"
, ''

The Art Newspaper ''The Art Newspaper'' is a monthly print publication, with daily updates online, founded in 1990 and based in London and New York City. It covers news of the visual arts as they are affected by international politics and economics, developments ...

'', 14 March 2014

Building and Venice Biennale

The collection is housed in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, which Peggy Guggenheim purchased in 1949. Although sometimes mistaken for a modern building, it is an 18th-century palace designed by the Venetian architect .Vail, p. 77 The building was unfinished, and has an unusually low elevation on the Grand Canal. The museum's website describes it thus: The palazzo was Peggy Guggenheim's home for thirty years. In 1951, the palazzo, its garden, now called the Nasher Sculpture Garden, and her art collection were opened to the public from April to October for viewing. Her collection at the palazzo remained open during the summers until her death in

Camposampiero Camposampiero is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Padua, Veneto, northern Italy. The 15th-century Santuario del Noce, a Roman Catholic chapel dedicated to Anthony of Padua, is located in Camposampiero. Twin towns – sister cities Camposa ...

, northern Italy, in 1979; she had donated the palazzo and the 300-piece collection to the

in 1976. The foundation, then under the direction of Peter Lawson-Johnston, took control of the palazzo and the collection in 1979 and re-opened the collection there in April 1980 as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. After the Foundation took control of the building in 1979, it took steps to expand gallery space; by 1985, "all of the rooms on the main floor had been converted into galleries ... the white Istrian stone facade and the unique canal terrace had been restored" and a protruding arcade wing, called the barchessa, had been rebuilt by architect Giorgio Bellavitis."Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice"

, accessed April 3, 2012 Since 1985, the museum has been open year-round."The Palace"
, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, accessed 10 March 2012 In 1993, apartments adjacent to the museum were converted to a garden annex, a shop and more galleries. In 1995, the Nasher Sculpture Garden was completed, additional exhibition rooms were added, and a café was opened. A few years later, in 1999 and in 2000, the two neighboring properties were acquired. In 2003, a new entrance and booking office opened to cope with the increasing number of visitors, which reached 350,000 in 2007. Since 1993, the museum has doubled in size, from 2,000 to 4,000 square meters. Since 1985, the United States has selected the foundation to operate the U.S. Pavilion of the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, an exhibition held every other summer. In 1986, the foundation purchased the Palladian-style pavilion, built in 1930.

Management and attendance

Philip Rylands led the museum for 37 years after Peggy Guggenheim's death, until 2017."The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Appoints Karole P.B. Vail to Lead the Peggy Guggenheim Collection"
Guggenheim.org, June 8, 2017 He was appointed the first director of the collection in 2000,
Art for Business, accessed 10 March 2012 and in 2017 he became director emeritus. In 2017, Peggy Guggenheim's granddaughter, Karole P. B. Vail, succeeded Rylands after having been a curator at the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

in New York since 1997. As of 2012, the collection was the most visited art gallery in Venice and the 11th most visited in Italy.

Lawsuits

Since 1992, Peggy Guggenheim's grandson, Sandro Rumney, together with his children and some cousins, have raised several disputes with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The disputes concern, in part, the difference in language between Guggenheim's unconditional 1976 deed of gift to the foundation, a 1969 letter, and a 1972 version of her will. The courts have found the deed binding. In 1992, Rumney and two other grandsons, sued the foundation in Paris claiming, among other things, that the modernization of the collection did not comply with the letter and spirit of her wishes. In 1994, the court dismissed the claims and ordered the grandsons to pay the foundation court costs. Esterow, Milton
"The Bitter Legal Battle over Peggy Guggenheim’s Blockbuster Art Collection"
'' Vanity Fair'', January 5, 2017 Following the gift of approximately 80 works to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation by Hannelore and Rudolph Schulhof (a former trustee of the foundation) in 2012, some works collected by Guggenheim were removed from the Palazzo to make room for the display of the new works. The Schulhofs' names were inscribed alongside Guggenheim's at both entrances of the museum. Their son, Michael P. Schulhof, has been a trustee of the Guggenheim foundation since 2009. In 2014, several French descendants of Peggy Guggenheim, led by Rumney, sued the foundation for violating her will and agreements with the foundation, which they said require that her collection "remain intact and on display". They also claimed that the resting place of her ashes in the gardens of the Palazzo has been desecrated by the display of sculptures nearby, among other things. The lawsuit requested that the founder's bequest be revoked or that the collections, gravesite and signage be restored. Other descendants of Peggy Guggenheim supported the foundation's position. In 2014, the court dismissed the claims and awarded the foundation legal fees. The court noted that the descendants had attended some of the parties held in the gardens by the foundation. In 2015, the Paris Court of Appeal dismissed the lawsuit and awarded the foundation additional legal fees.Carvajal, Doreen
"Peggy Guggenheim’s Kin Lose Bid to Challenge How Her Collection Is Displayed"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', September 23, 2015 Rumney stated his intention to continue to appeal.

Selected works

File:Pablo Picasso, 1911, The Poet (Le poète), Céret, oil on linen, 131.2 × 89.5 cm, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice.jpg,

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, 1911, ''The Poet (Le poète)'', oil on linen, 131.2 × 89.5 cm (51 5/8 × 35 1/4 in.) File:Metzinger cycle track.jpg,

Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...

, 1911–1912, ''

'', oil, sand and collage on canvas, 130.4 × 97.1 cm (51 1/2 x 38 1/4 in.) File:Marcel Duchamp, 1911-12, Nude (Study), Sad Young Man on a Train (Nu -esquisse-, jeune homme triste dans un train), Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice.jpg,

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

, 1911–1912, ''Nude (Study), Sad Young Man on a Train (Nu, esquisse, jeune homme triste dans un train)'', oil on cardboard mounted on Masonite, 100 x 73 cm (39 3/8 × 28 3/4 in.) File:Vassily Kandinsky, 1913 - Landscape With Red Spots.jpg,

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...

, 1913, '' Landscape with Red Spots No 2'', oil on canvas, 117.5 x 140 cm File:Albert Gleizes, 1914, Woman with Animals, oil on canvas, 196.4 x 114.1 cm, Peggy Guggenheim Collection.jpg,

Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...

, 1914, '' Woman with Animals (La dame aux bêtes) Madame Raymond Duchamp-Villon'', oil on canvas, 196.4 x 114.1 cm (77 5/16 x 45 15/16 in.)

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guggenheim Collection, Peggy Art museums and galleries in Venice Biographical museums in Italy Dorsoduro Women's museums in Italy Art museums established in 1951 1951 establishments in Italy Former private collections Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Contemporary art galleries in Italy