Peggy Guggenheim

Peggy Guggenheim (1898 – 1979) is perhaps the best-known art patron in global terms. She was an actual socialite of privileged background who mingled through the art circles and gradually became the driving force of the American art scene. In 1938 she opened a modern art gallery Guggenheim Jeune, and started acquiring artworks from the leading modernists.

After one year she realized that her efforts should be moved to opening a museum, but the war outbreak stopped her. Then she left Europe, and in 1941 opened a new exhibition space called The Art of This Century Gallery that operated until 1947 when Guggenheim decided to live in Venice. The following year she was invited to show her collection at the first postwar edition of the Venice Biennale, and in 1949 she ultimately opened her own museum at the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni. Throughout the decades, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection became one of the most visited attractions in Venice, while the grand art patron received accolades for her contribution to the development of modern art until she died in 1979.

Featured image: Peggy Guggenheim at the Greek Pavilion, Venice Biennale, 1948. Image via guggenheim-venice.it.