Peggy Guggenheim

Peggy Guggenheim
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Name	Peggy Guggenheim
Caption	Guggenheim in 1937, photographed by Man Ray
Birth name	Marguerite Guggenheim
Birth date	26 August 1898
Birth place	New York City, U.S.
Death date	23 December 1979
Death place	Camposampiero, Veneto, Italy
Nationality	American
Known for	Modern art collecting, patronage
Occupation	Art collector, gallery owner
Spouse	Laurence Vail (1922–1930), Max Ernst (1941–1946)
Partner	John Holms, Samuel Beckett
Children	Michael Cedric Sindbad Vail, Pegeen Vail
Relatives	Solomon R. Guggenheim (uncle), Benjamin Guggenheim (father)

Peggy Guggenheim was an influential American art collector and patron who played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of modern art in the 20th century. Heir to the Guggenheim family fortune, she used her resources to champion avant-garde movements like Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. Her legendary collection, housed in her Venetian palazzo, became one of the most important museums of European and American modern art in Italy.

Early life and family background

Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim was born into the wealthy Guggenheim family in New York City, the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim and Florette Seligman. Her father died in the sinking of the *Titanic* in 1912, and she received a modest inheritance upon coming of age. In her youth, she was exposed to the bohemian intellectual circles of Greenwich Village and worked briefly at the avant-garde bookstore Sunwise Turn. In 1920, she traveled to Europe, settling in Paris and later London, where she began to move in literary and artistic circles that included figures like Djuna Barnes and Marcel Duchamp, who would become a lifelong friend and advisor.

Art collecting and patronage

Guggenheim began collecting art in earnest in the late 1930s, guided by the advice of Duchamp and the critic Herbert Read. With the looming threat of World War II, she embarked on a prolific buying spree across Paris, acquiring major works by artists like Georges Braque, Salvador Dalí, and Piet Mondrian, often purchasing a piece a day. She provided crucial financial support and, in some cases, escape from Europe for artists, including helping Max Ernst, whom she later married, leave France. Her collection came to comprehensively represent key movements such as Cubism, Futurism, and the Bauhaus.

The Art of This Century gallery

In 1942, Guggenheim opened the radical Art of This Century gallery in New York City. Designed by the architect Frederick Kiesler, the gallery was a revolutionary space that showcased her collection of European modern masters alongside emerging American artists. It became a vital hub for the New York School, giving early solo exhibitions to artists like Jackson Pollock, whom she supported with a monthly stipend, Robert Motherwell, and Mark Rothko. The gallery's innovative presentation and promotion of Abstract Expressionism were instrumental in shifting the art world's center from Paris to New York.

Life in Venice and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection

After the war, Guggenheim returned to Europe, settling in Venice in 1949. She purchased the unfinished 18th-century Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal, where she lived and displayed her collection. She began exhibiting her holdings publicly during the Venice Biennale, and in 1951, she opened her home to the public for regular viewing hours. Her presence and patronage significantly revitalized the postwar Venetian art scene. Upon her death, the collection and palazzo were bequeathed to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and it now operates as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a major branch of the Guggenheim Museum network.

Personal life and legacy

Guggenheim's personal life was marked by numerous relationships within the artistic avant-garde. Her marriages to writer and artist Laurence Vail and painter Max Ernst were tumultuous, and she had significant affairs with figures like writer Samuel Beckett. She was known for her eccentric personality, sharp wit, and distinctive style, often wearing custom-designed eyeglasses by Edward Melcarth. Her legacy is defined by her fearless eye, her crucial support for artists at critical junctures, and her creation of a world-class public museum. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection remains a testament to her vision, preserving a definitive survey of 20th-century modernism.

Category:American art collectors Category:Modern art patrons Category:Guggenheim family