🎬 Intro
Step through a beautiful wrought-iron gate, adorned with colorful stones, and into a quiet garden filled with art in Venice’s Dorsoduro district. Here, overlooking the Grand Canal, you’ll find the Peggy Guggenheim Collection – the place where one of the most iconic art collectors of the 20th century made a home for her extraordinary collection of modern art.
From the very first steps, it’s clear this isn’t just a museum – it’s a home filled with art, where the spirit of its eccentric owner still lingers in the air. Thanks to Peggy Guggenheim, Venice became one of the great capitals of contemporary art.
Peggy Guggenheim – A Collector with a Passion for Art
Peggy Guggenheim was born in 1898 in New York City, into a wealthy Jewish family. She was the niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim – founder of the famed Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan – but the inheritance she received from her father, Benjamin (who tragically died on the Titanic), was relatively modest. Perhaps it was that early loss that taught her independence. As a young woman, she chose her own path and decided to dedicate her life to art.
At 23, she moved to Europe, immersing herself in the bohemian circles of Paris and London. It was there that her passion for modern art was born – at a time when it was still considered niche, avant-garde, and often misunderstood.
She built her collection on her own – with fierce determination and a genuine love for artists. Peggy had a rare instinct: she could recognize genius before the world caught on. It was she who discovered Jackson Pollock – the American painter and former carpenter from Wyoming, whose abstract canvases initially shocked the public. In the 1940s, she offered him a monthly stipend of $150 in exchange for every painting he produced. That support allowed Pollock to spread his wings – and today, works like The Moon Woman and Alchemy hang just steps from the Grand Canal in Venice.
But Peggy’s passion wasn’t limited to collecting. She was also a bold patron of the arts – supporting artists financially, curating exhibitions, and championing the new, the daring, and the unconventional. In 1938, she opened her first gallery, Guggenheim Jeune, in London. A few years later, after fleeing wartime Europe for New York, she founded another: Art of This Century. There, she showcased cubism, surrealism, and abstract expressionism – often shocking conservative audiences and earning rave reviews.
Even then, Peggy saw how deeply male-dominated the art world was – and she refused to accept it. In 1943, she curated a groundbreaking exhibition featuring only women artists, including Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, and others who had long been overlooked. Peggy wasn’t just one of the few women to break into the art world – she helped reshape it, following her heart and ignoring the rules.
As Europe plunged into the darkness of World War II, Peggy came up with a wild idea: to buy one piece of art every single day, before it was too late. And – remarkably – she kept that promise. Through her efforts, countless paintings and sculptures were saved from destruction and would go on to form the foundation of her extraordinary collection.
Among the works she rescued were pieces by Miró, Dalí, Magritte, and Braque. Later, with her signature irony, she would joke that the war had been “a good deal” for her collection – prices dropped, so she could buy more for less.
A Life Among Artists – Friendships, Love Affairs, and Scandals
Peggy Guggenheim lived at the heart of the art world – surrounded by painters, sculptors, and writers. Many of them were not only part of her collection, but also part of her personal life.
Her first husband was Laurence Vail, an artist from the Parisian bohemian scene, who introduced her to the circles of Dadaists and Surrealists. After their divorce, she became involved with Max Ernst, the celebrated German Surrealist known for his dreamlike paintings filled with strange, fantastical creatures. He became her second husband, and his works – including The Attirement of the Bride – still hang on the walls of her Venetian palazzo. Sadly, their marriage didn’t survive the turmoil of World War II, and they parted ways shortly after the war ended.
Another close friend and mentor was Marcel Duchamp, the legendary avant-garde artist. He taught Peggy how to truly understand modern art and helped shape her collection in its early years. Their relationship was rich with intellectual exchange – Peggy often said it was Duchamp who opened her eyes to what was modern, radical, and truly groundbreaking in art.
But perhaps the most colorful stories come from her romantic life. Peggy’s lovers included artists and intellectuals who formed the crème de la crème of the avant-garde – from painters and writers to the renowned playwright Samuel Beckett, who convinced her to focus fully on collecting modern art. That decision would mark a turning point in her life.
She was often labeled a scandal-maker, a title she wore with a wink. With typical wit, she once claimed to have had over a thousand lovers – a statement she made with laughter, never taking herself too seriously, and certainly not caring what others thought.
Peggy lived exactly as she pleased – speaking openly about her desires and relationships at a time when such honesty was unheard of for a woman from a “respectable” background. That fearless authenticity, her refusal to conform, and her commitment to uplifting others have led many to see her as a pioneer of feminism in the art world – a woman who didn’t just support artists, but created her own rules and followed them boldly.
Palazzo Venier dei Leoni – A Home for Art on the Grand Canal
The museum is housed in Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, a building unlike any other Venetian palace – low, single-story, and seemingly cut in half. Known as “the unfinished palace,” it was originally intended to be a grand five-story residence with a white stone façade. Construction began in the 18th century by the noble Venier family, but due to financial troubles or shifting fortunes, only one level was ever completed. As a result, the side facing the Grand Canal feels unusually squat and modest, adorned at its base with stone lion heads gazing out at the water. It’s those lions – or perhaps a rumor that a real lion once lived here – that gave the palace its name: dei Leoni, “of the lions.”
In the early 20th century, the palace was rented by Marchesa Luisa Casati, an eccentric aristocrat famous for her haunting masquerade balls and a penchant for exotic animals, which she kept at home. The building passed through various hands until, in 1949, it landed in the possession of Peggy Guggenheim. She purchased it for a relatively modest price – postwar Italy was full of such opportunities, as old aristocratic families sold off their crumbling estates. For Peggy, it was a dream come true: a home surrounded by art, dear friends, and her beloved dogs.
She adored Lhasa Apsos, who followed her everywhere and were treated like her children. At one point, she had no fewer than eleven of them, joyfully scampering through her Venetian salon.
After renovating and adapting the interiors to accommodate her growing collection, Peggy moved into Palazzo Venier dei Leoni permanently. And in 1951, she opened her private collection to the public – for free – three afternoons a week. The atmosphere of the museum still carries that spirit: intimate, unpretentious, with artworks hanging closely together like in a lived-in home. Wandering the narrow corridors, you can almost sense Peggy herself – cigarette in hand, gliding past guests with a playful smile.
By the 1960s and ’70s, Peggy Guggenheim had become an institution in Venice. Anyone in the art world passing through the city knew they had to stop by her home. Writers, artists, aristocrats, and bohemians from around the globe crossed her threshold.
She lived in Venice for nearly thirty years, until her death in 1979 at the age of 81. But before she passed, Peggy made sure her collection would live on. In 1976, she donated her home and artworks to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, on one condition: that the collection stay in Venice, in her beloved palazzo, and remain open to the public.
Peggy Guggenheim is buried in the garden of her home, among sculptures and shade trees. There, visitors can find a simple plaque that reads: “Here Rests PEGGY GUGGENHEIM 1898–1979.”
Nearby, another marker pays tribute to those who shared her most loyal companionship – a marble stone inscribed with the names and lifespans of her cherished dogs, titled: “HERE LIE MY BELOVED BABIES.”
If you ever find yourself in Venice, take the time to visit this magical corner of the Grand Canal. Sit on the terrace beside the stone lions and horses, gaze out at the shimmering water, and soak in the atmosphere that so enchanted Peggy. Step inside, look at the photos of her scattered throughout the palazzo – especially the ones where she’s grinning mischievously behind her signature oversized sunglasses – and know that her spirit is still there. And her beloved art? Still dazzling the world.
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