Travel Log, 2014. Venice, Italy: Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Travelog: Venice, 2014 The Peggy Guggenheim Collection
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection was high on my list of things to see in Venice. We arrived in this spectacular city mid-morning, checked into our hotel, and then wandered slowly but deliberately from San Marco Piazza, meandering along the calle in the general direction of the Accademia Bridge, and taking our time to view the exquisite sights on our way. I must have looked pretty silly with that grin of happiness filling my whole face as we explored the city, checking out every nook and cranny of the calle and campi we crossed. So much to see, and of course, not enough time.
Accademia Bridge over the Grand Canal, Venice
Hundreds of couples proclaim their undying and everlasting love for each other by signing their names on padlocks which they lock on the railings of the bridge.
After crossing the bridge to the Dorsoduro section of Venice, we turned left and headed to the Guggenheim Collection, zig-zagging genrally to the left on the calle until we found the museum at 701 Dorsoduro. (If you turn right at the base of the Accademia Bridge, you will find the Gallerie dell’Accademia, a museum housing Venetian art. It’s a museum well worth visiting.)
Entrance to the Guggenheim courtyard
Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979), niece and heiress of mining magnate Solomon R. Guggenheim, collected modern art in Europe and America at the beginning of and through WWII. Her home, the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, built in the 1750s on the Grand Canal, was never finished by its original owner who had intended it to be a grand four-story masterpiece. Venetians have nicknamed this structure Il Palazzo Nonfinito (the unfinished palace). Guggenheim purchased the one-story building in 1949 and used it as her home as well as a museum for her extensive modern art collection.
Exterior courtyard of the Guggenheim museum
Guggenheim encouraged and supported many young modern artists (Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Vasily Kandinsky, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, just to name a few) by collecting and displaying their artwork. She married Max Ernst, also a contemporary artist whose artwork can be seen in the gallery and courtyard at the Guggenheim.
Current Exhibit: For Your Eyes Only, Mannerism to Surrealism
A man sits and contemplates a piece of sculpture in the Nasher Sculpture Garden (added in 1995) in the center courtyard at the Guggenheim Collection.
Max Ernst (1891-1976) In the Streets of Athens (Dans les rues d’Athenes) Bronze, 1960
Henry Moore (1898-1986) Three Standing Figures (Tre Figure in Piedi) Bronze, 1953
A Calder sculpture on the terrace of the Guggenheim Collection on the Grand Canal
A school group visits the museum and hears about Alexander Calder’s life and art while sitting under one of his mobiles.
Philosophy on the wall at the Guggenheim
Our visit to the Guggenheim Collection was everything I expected it to be and more. To be in the galleries viewing the artwork of such well-known artists of the Cubism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism movements was thrilling, and I definitely want to visit again.
Don’t miss this museum if you visit Venice. You only need a few hours to enjoy the gardens and the galleries. (Yes, I know, you could do some of this artwork yourself! I heard that comment at the museum. But you haven’t, have you? And you won’t, will you?)
Go and enjoy Peggy Guggenheim’s Collection. Your college arts and humanities professor will be proud of you.
Click here for a delightful video peek at the Guggenheim Collection.
For my other posts on Venice, click on the titles below.
Janice Hall Heck 