COLLEZIONE PEGGY GUGGENHEIM

Near the Accademia, housed in an 18th century palazzo, the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, originally intended to be four stories high but now only one (Venetians call it il palazzo Nonfinito, "the unfinished palace"), houses the art collections of the famous American heiress Peggy Guggenheim. She bought it in 1949 and lived there until her death in 1979. She installed her collection here, which includes the greatest painters of the 20th century, offering a unique perspective on modern art. An uncle of Mrs. Guggenheim's created the foundation after her death. The Venice Museum is without doubt the most complete and best laid out of the Guggenheim series. Through its seven rooms, garden and terrace on the Grand Canal, you will discover Peggy Guggenheim's private home, its entrance where a Calder mobile hangs and its living room where wonderful Giacometti sculptures are displayed. Photos on the walls remind us of what the furniture was like in Peggy Guggenheim's day. Not to mention its impressive collection of modern art. Very famous paintings by artists in vogue during the 1920s, from cubism to surrealism and futurism: Picasso, Braque, Fernand Léger, Victor Brauner, Modigliani, Giorgio de Chirico, Albert Gleizes, Giacomo Balla but also Kandisky, Umberto Boccioni and Mondrian... Finally, how can we not mention Salvador Dali and his Birth of Liquid Desires and René Magritte's masterpiece, The Empire of Lights?

In 2012, a gift from the American collector Hannelore B. Schulhof completed the collection with a contribution of more than 80 works of art.

Before you leave, take a tour of the terrace garden, the Terrazza Marini, with its view of the Grand Canal. An amazing bronze sculpture is placed in the center of the landscape. It is a silhouette of a man erect on a horse! Its name: The Angel of the City. It is a provocative work by Italian sculptor Marino Marini, whom Peggy Guggenheim was particularly fond of. This daring scene is inevitably challenging, without being in bad taste. It is, after all, art!

At the end of the garden, behind the pretty ivy-covered rotunda, you can pay your respects to Peggy Guggenheim's grave. Next to it is a plaque in memory of the dogs buried near her. These include Cappuccino, Peacock and Madame Butterfly.