By: Ashley McHale
Going on tours of museums in Italy can be very drawn out and detailed, especially at 9 am. Touring the Peggy Guggenheim museum is an experience that can inspire you in to a point you want to know more. At least that’s what I took from it.
Walking into the courtyard and through the glass doors I didn’t know what to expect really. I thought we would see a few great works from Italian artists, most of which I wouldn’t understand but could appreciate. I was wrong. Our tour guide introduced himself and welcomed us to the museum. The museum, which was Peggy Guggenheim’s home, sits on the Grand Canal in Venice.
The incredible wide white home with black rod iron decals was once the collectors living space of luxury and is now full of works of modern art by hundreds of artists including Pablo Picasso, Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock. Each room is representing a different style, but all of the works are specifically placed and have Peggy’s stamp of approval.
Peggy Guggenheim was encouraged by friends to open a gallery and collect modern art after World War II because of the significance of change in art and the birth of contemporary styles. That she did, and her museum showcases the most notable works of her time. Her more personal rooms, her bedroom and bathroom, hold the works that were closest to her heart.
What was once her bathroom is now dedicated to her daughter Pegeen’s talents. Peggen Vail was the daughter of Peggy Guggenheim and Laurence Vail, a painter and Peggy’s first husband. Pegeen’s early years were spent meeting with some of the most talented artists of the 20th century. At the age of twelve she began painting and her mother was a constant supporter of her work as well as other female artists of the time.
Pegeen’s pieces are very bright and fantasy-like and are of mostly doll like figures in on the canals of Venice. They are fun and joyful which was contradictory to her personal life. Pegeen’s marital problems caused her to have a problem with alcoholism, which took her life at an early age.
The Peggy Guggenheim museum should not be missed when visiting Venice. She was an icon of the city and left it a historical showcase of art from the 20th century. Her lavish ways and passionate personality come out in her home. You get a true sense of her life and may even get a few stories of some of the crazy things she took part in.
Our tour guide took us to the back of her home overlooking the canal and mentioned that it is a legend that Peggy would drink a bottle of prosecco every night and throw the empty bottles in the canal. Our group laughed but I imagined how exciting it would have been to share some prosecco with Peggy and talk about modern art.
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