Peggy Guggenheim
American art collector and patron of modern art.
Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim was an American art collector, bohemian, and socialite born into the wealthy New York City Guggenheim family. Her father, Benjamin Guggenheim, perished in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, and her uncle was Solomon R. Guggenheim, founder of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Her mother, Florette Seligman, came from the prominent Seligman family. Upon turning 21 in 1919, Guggenheim inherited $2.5 million, though this was far less than her cousins because her father had not amassed a fortune comparable to his siblings. She had a sister, Barbara Hazel Guggenheim, who also became a painter and art collector.
Guggenheim’s early career began as a clerk at the Sunwise Turn, an avant-garde bookstore in Midtown Manhattan, where she became enamored with bohemian artists. In 1920, she moved to Paris, befriending avant-garde writers and artists living in poverty in Montparnasse. Man Ray photographed her, and she formed lasting friendships with Constantin Brâncuși and Marcel Duchamp, whose art she later promoted. She became a regular at Natalie Barney’s salon and befriended artist Romaine Brooks. She also met writer Djuna Barnes, whom she later supported as a patron; Barnes wrote her best-known novel, *Nightwood*, while staying at Hayford Hall, a Devon country house Guggenheim had rented for two summers. Guggenheim urged Emma Goldman to write her autobiography and helped secure funds for her to live in Saint-Tropez while writing *Living My Life*. Guggenheim herself authored an autobiography, *Out of This Century*, later revised and republished as *Confessions of an Art Addict*.
In January 1938, Guggenheim opened a London gallery for modern art called Guggenheim Jeune, named to associate it with the French Bernheim-Jeune gallery and her own family name. The gallery, located on Cork Street, proved successful thanks to advice from friends like Marcel Duchamp, who introduced her to the art world and conceived several exhibitions. The first show featured Jean Cocteau drawings, followed by exhibitions of Wassily Kandinsky (his first solo show in England), Yves Tanguy, Wolfgang Paalen, and others. She held group exhibitions of sculpture and collage featuring artists such as Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Constantin Brâncuși, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, and Kurt Schwitters. She also admired and helped discover the work of John Tunnard. Despite
- died
- December 23, 1979
- field
- Art collecting, patronage
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Founding the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice; collecting abstract and Surr
Verified Timeline
Quick Facts
- Birth Name
- Marguerite Guggenheim
- Birth Date
- 1898-08-26
- Birth Place
- New York City, U.S.
- Death Date
- 1979-12-23
- Death Place
- Camposampiero, Italy
- Parents
- Florette Seligman / Benjamin Guggenheim
- Relatives
- Barbara Hazel Guggenheim (sister)
- Spouse
- Laurence Vail / (m. · married 1922; div. · divorced c. 1928) / Max Ernst · 1941 · 1946 · end=divorced
- Partner
- Douglas Garman (192?–193?)
- Children
- Pegeen Vail Guggenheim / Michael Cedric Sindbad Vail
- Family
- Guggenheim
- Known For
- Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Peggy Guggenheim was born to the wealthy New York City Guggenheim family, a niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim. She was a former wife of artist Max Ernst. 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, among others. During her 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). She purchased the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in 1949. 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, northern Italy, in 1979. She had donated the palazzo and the 300-piece collection to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1976. The foundation took control of the palazzo and the collection in 1979 and re-opened the collection there in April 1980 as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
Reader's Guide
Peggy Guggenheim's significance lies in her role as a collector who shaped the reception of modern art. Her collection includes works of prominent Italian futurists and American modernists working in such genres as Cubism, Surrealism and abstract expressionism. It also includes sculptural works. Among the artists represented in the collection are: from Italy, Giorgio de Chirico (The Red Tower, The Nostalgia of the Poet) and Gino Severini (Sea Dancer); from France, Georges Braque (The Clarinet), Jean Metzinger (Au Vélodrome), Albert Gleizes (Woman with Animals), Marcel Duchamp (Sad Young Man on a Train), Fernand Léger (Study of a Nude and Men in the City), Francis Picabia (Very Rare Picture on Earth); from Spain, Salvador Dalí (Birth of Liquid Desires), Joan Miró (Seated Woman II) and Pablo Picasso (The Poet, On the Beach); from other European countries, Constantin Brâncuși (including a sculpture from the Bird in Space series), Max Ernst (The Kiss, Attirement of the Bride), Alberto Giacometti (Woman with Her Throat Cut, Woman Walking), Arshile Gorky (Untitled), Wassily Kandinsky (Landscape with Red Spots, No. 2, White Cross), Paul Klee (Magic Garden), René Magritte (Empire of Light) and Piet Mondrian (Composition No. 1 with Grey and Red 1938, Composition with Red 1939); and from the US, Alexander Calder (Arc of Petals) and Jackson Pollock (The Moon Woman, Alchemy). In one room, the museum also exhibits a few paintings by Peggy's daughter Pegeen Vail Guggenheim. 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".
Did You Know?
- Peggy Guggenheim was a former wife of artist Max Ernst.
- She discovered the talent of Jackson Pollock, among others, while collecting in America.
- She donated the palazzo and the 300-piece collection to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1976.
- The collection attracts some 400,000 visitors per year, making it the most-visited site in Venice after the Doge's Palace.
- In 2017, her granddaughter Karole Vail was appointed director of the collection, succeeding Philip Rylands, who led the museum for 37 years.
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