PEGGY GUGGENHEIM COLLECTION VENICE – September 2019
Before I reached the ticket counter to this enviable collection, I was ushered into a private garden that showcased her private collection even before I had entered her home. These are some of the artsy collection of Peggy Guggenheim without entering the house ,now a fabulous museum.
The Byzantine Marble throne in The Palace , now museum, Garden, It was one of Peggy Guggenheims favourite place to sit with her dogs and take photographs.
So appropriate in Peggy Guggenheim’s Garden. ” I dedicated myself to my collection. A collection means hard work. It was what I wanted to do and I made it my life’s work. I am not an art collector. I am a museum.” Peggy Guggenheim, Peggy Guggenheim and Her Friends, 1970-76
Arnaldo Pomodoro Sphere No 3 1964
Alexander Calder (1898 – 1976) La Vache “The Cow” 1970
Anish kapoor (b 1936) “Gray Scramble” 1968-69Her Grave, very appropriately placed in the garden where she loved to be. Being ‘Peggy’ her grave could not have been so simple. In fact she rests with her favourite companions. Her dogs.The sweetest most unusual way to be placed at rest. Now I definitely had to go inside. Peggy was buried here with her favourite dogs. Their tombstone holds equal importance in the garden of her Palace.
“Peggy died aged 81 on 23 December 1979. Her ashes are placed in a corner of the garden of her museum. Since then, under the oversight of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection has become one of the finest museums of modern art in the world.”https://www.guggenheim-venice.it/en/art/in-depth/peggy-guggenheim/about-peggy/
A ticket that is my prized treasure. The best Souvenir.
Alexander Calder “Arc of Petals” 1941. This artwork greets you as you enter the hall.Alexander Calder “Silver Bed Head” 1946. I always loved his suspended works and often wondered how he balanced the colour, form and the delicacy of the sculpture. This was a very unusual work that still kept the delicacy but was not suspended. In the grilled window that overlooks the Grand Canal one chances upon 23 translucent glass figurines that almost blend with the water. This were made by Egidio Constantini in 1964. However, they are better known as Sketches made by Pablo Picasso during his fascination for blue.
The house opens onto the Grand canal opposite is the Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Granda which is the seat of the governing body of Venice. Greece .Unrecorded artist. Two Horses. Corfù . Stone. 115 x 125 x 56 cm Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York)
Joan Miro Febuary 1939 “Seated woman II” Oil on Canvas
Joan Miro (1893 – 1983) “Dutch Interior II” Summer 1928 Oil on Canvas
Frank Stella (b 1936) “Gray Stella” 1968-69
Vasily Kandinsky (1866 – 1944) “Upward”
Vasily Kandinsky ” Landscape with red spots no 2″ 1913 Oil on Canvas
Max Ernst (1891 – 1976) La Vestizione della sposa “Attirement of the Bride” – 1940 Oil on Canvas
Ellsworth Kelly (1923-2015) “Black Curve IV” 1972 Oil on Canvas
Piet Mondrian (1872 -1944) “Composition No 1 with Grey and Red” 1938-39Jackson Pollok (1912 – 1956) “Alchemy” 1945
The paintings and sculpture are a very small part of the entire collection. There were masterpieces by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, to name a few. These works of Art made a lasting impression on me. I marvelled at the mind of this very gutsy lady who lost her precious daughter at a young age and never stopped grieving. Yet her collection shows foresight and creativity. She was a genuine Philanthropist and Collector. I would visit this museum again and again and yet not have enough.
Go with Jo 