A modernist palace on the Grand Canal housing one of Europe’s finest collections of twentieth-century art, from American abstraction to Italian futurism and informal abstraction.
At a glance
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection occupies Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, on the Dorsoduro bank of the Grand Canal between the Accademia and the Salute. The palace was begun in 1749 for the Venier family to designs by Lorenzo Boschetti and never finished: only the first of its five planned storeys was built. Peggy Guggenheim bought it in July 1949, opened her home and her collection of twentieth-century art to the public from 1951, and gave both to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation during her lifetime. The museum has been run by the Foundation since 1980.
History
The Venier commissioned the palace from Lorenzo Boschetti in 1749. Events in the family and in the city stopped the work, and only the first of the five planned storeys was ever built, which is why Venetians call it the unfinished palace. The name dei Leoni probably comes from the lion heads in Istrian stone set along the facade at water level.
In the twentieth century the building had tenants to match its oddity. The Marchesa Luisa Casati rented it from the 1910s to 1924; in 1936 it was bought by Viscountess Doris Castlerosse. Peggy Guggenheim acquired it in July 1949, after closing her New York gallery Art of This Century, and from 1951 she opened her house and collection to visitors free of charge. She gave the palace and the collection to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation while she was still alive; after her death in 1979, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection opened under the Foundation’s management in 1980.
What you see
From the Grand Canal, a long low front of white Istrian stone, a single storey where five were meant to stand, with the lion heads along the water line and a terrace on the canal. On the terrace stands Marino Marini’s bronze The Angel of the City (1948), a rider with outstretched arms facing the water.
The land entrance is on Calle San Cristoforo, at Dorsoduro 701, through a gate of welded iron set with pieces of Murano glass by Claire Falkenstein (1961). Beyond it lies the Nasher Sculpture Garden, and in a quiet corner of the garden Peggy Guggenheim’s grave, beside those of her dogs.
Cultural significance
The collection documents the major artistic movements of the modern era. Works by Picasso, Salvador Dalí, René Magritte and Constantin Brancusi (represented by sculptures from his Bird in Space series) anchor the European avant-garde. Jackson Pollock and William Congdon represent American modernism’s international reach. A particular strength lies in Italian informal abstraction: pieces by Lucio Fontana, Emilio Vedova, Afro Basaldella and others chart the distinctive path of post-war Italian art. Cubism, surrealism and abstract expressionism form the exhibition’s conceptual backbone.
Key facts
- Palace: Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, begun 1749 by Lorenzo Boschetti for the Venier; left unfinished at the first storey
- 1910s–1924: rented by the Marchesa Luisa Casati; 1936: bought by Viscountess Doris Castlerosse
- July 1949: bought by Peggy Guggenheim (1898–1979)
- 1951: house and collection open to the public
- 1980: the Peggy Guggenheim Collection opens under the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
- Address: Dorsoduro 701–704, Venice; entrance on Calle San Cristoforo
- GPS: 45.43082, 12.33154 · Open in Google Maps
- Website: guggenheim-venice.it
Practical information
The museum is open every day except Tuesday and 25 December. Opening hours and tickets change with the season: check the official website before visiting, and book ahead in the months of the Biennale.
Getting there
Vaporetto lines 1 or 2 to Accademia, then a short walk east through Calle Nuova Sant’Agnese and Calle San Cristoforo; or line 1 to Salute and a short walk west along the Fondamenta Venier dei Leoni.
See the place
Nearby
- Santa Maria della Salute — along the canal to the east
- Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Granda — directly across the Grand Canal
- Punta della Dogana — at the end of the Dorsoduro bank
Sources & resources
- Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni: Boschetti and 1749, the unfinished storeys, the lion heads, Luisa Casati and Doris Castlerosse, the purchase of July 1949, the opening of 1951, the gift to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the opening of 1980
- Peggy Guggenheim Collection, official website, for opening hours and tickets
Gallery
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