From Venice 1948 to Today: Peggy Guggenheim's Timeless Influence
Museum Matron Peggy Guggenheim was a woman of art, audacity and adventure who was used to making headlines and pioneering her own path. One of her enduring legacies is the role she played shining the light and exposing Europeans to new American art at the 1948 Venice Biennale.
After a 6-year hiatus, due to the second world war, the Biennale recommenced in 1948 with many empty international pavilions. Lots of countries were struggling with their own economic scars and unable to participate. Peggy, a wealthy American with a unique gallery of contemporary art in New York City, was invited to curate a show of her collection in the empty pavilion belonging to Greece.
She installed half the building with her collection of European Surrealist masterpieces. It was the other half that caused a sensation. Her collection of American abstract expressionist works alerted the world to an acute shift of cultural power. For the first time American artists such as Jackson Pollock and Clyfford Still were hanging next to European masters. The Europeans were astounded by the new works. It signaled the placement of New York as the center of the art world.
Peggy was a passionate advocate for artists. She had amassed a large collection and had mounted shows to highlight the strengths of the new art movement. Her inherited wealth came from her father, who drowned tragically with the SS Titanic when Peggy was only a teenager. As a young woman who was raised in New York city, she married a European artist who brought her to Paris and London in the 1920’s and introduced her to the bohemian art scene. She met and became life-long friends to many of the artists and writers.
Portrait of Peggy Guggenheim, (2024 “Museum Matron” series) by Tilly Strauss
Drawn into the circle of expats in Europe, she became a tastemaker. In 1938 she opened a small art gallery in London, exhibiting her friends works. She relied on art historians and her friend, Marcel Duchamp, to help draw up the list of artists to collect. The first show held at her London gallery was the work of her friend Jean Cocteau, (and this year, 2024, the Guggenheim Museum in Venice will be featuring his mixed media portfolio again!)
Just before the second world war she embarked on a mission to buy a painting a day. It was an infusion of American dollars in a desperately poor European economy. Peggy sought out new artists all over Paris and she purchased their work, often enabling them to escape dire situations. She collected Georges Braque, Salvador Dalí, Robert Delaunay, Piet Mondrian, and Francis Picabia, among others. Ignoring the advances of Hitler’s army she fearlessly purchased art from Fernand Léger as the Germans approached Paris. It is said she was so focused on her mission that she was buying a sculpture from the artist Constantine Brancusi just as the Nazi’s marched into Paris!
At the very last minute she fled to the South of France.
Peggy Guggenheim with Constantin Brancusi’s Maiastra, Paris, ca. 1940. Photo: André Rogi.
In desperation to save her collection from the Germans, Peggy tried to get the Louvre to store it, and they refused, of course denying it as having any value. She was able, through clever packing, her American Visa, and contacts, to smuggle her collection off the continent and to New York in crates sometimes marked “Kitchen Appliances”.
About this time, she married the enigmatic surrealist Max Ernst and together, with her ex-husband and children, they were able to flee Europe just ahead of the Nazi army. Once back in New York City Peggy set out to open a gallery to showcase her collection of the latest avant-garde works of the European art scene. Called “Art of This Century”, the gallery opened in 1941 and became a mecca for European ex-patriates and a magnet for new American artists. Her shows were crowded events. The gallery was uniquely designed with curving walls and paintings suspended on ropes and wires. There were plenty of seating for gatherings. Alexander Calder and Alfred Stieglitz went there to see every show.
As new artists showed up on her doorstep, Peggy sought to find out more about their work. She was the first to commission Jackson Pollock for a mural. She gave solo shows to women artists before anyone else would do so. She courted critics and hung out with museum directors. She sought to inspire, challenge, and celebrate the artists of her time.
Peggy in her NYC Art of This Century Gallery, Photo Tom Fitzsimmons
In 1948, having shipped most all her art collection from NYC to Venice for the Biennale, Peggy decided she might as well keep the art in Venice after the show ended. The city welcomed her, and she purchased a mansion on the Grand Canal.
With her remarkable life and indelible mark on the art world, Peggy Guggenheim's legacy continues to resonate through time. Her pivotal role at the 1948 Venice Biennale was not just a moment in history but a declaration of a new era in art, marking the ascension of American artists onto the global stage alongside their European counterparts.
From her daring exhibitions at "Art of This Century" to her relentless pursuit of new talent, Peggy was a force of nature, pushing boundaries and championing artists ahead of their time. Her escape from Europe during the tumult of World War II, ensuring the safety of her vast collection by any means necessary, stands as a testament to her unwavering commitment to art and artists.
Today, as the 60th International Venice Biennale opens its doors, the theme "Stranieri Ovunque, Foreigners Everywhere" resonates deeply with Peggy Guggenheim's story. Her museum, once her cherished home on the Grand Canal, now stands as a tribute to her passion and vision. As the works of Jean Cocteau, her dear friend and the first artist she showcased in London, grace its walls, we are reminded of Peggy's enduring influence on the art world.
