Peggy Guggenheim

We have to give both ten and thirty minute talks on the life of Peggy Guggenheim. The following is what I usually say for my ten minute talk. It's long, but worth reading-- I think her life was incredibly fascinating!

Peggy Guggenheim was born into the upper east side of New York City on August 26, 1898. Her father, Benjamin was of the wealthy Guggenheim family who made their money in metal, and her mother Florette was of the wealthy banking Seligmann family. Peggy’s childhood was privileged. She attended excellent schools, was exposed to art and theater and traveled to Europe with her family.


Florrette and Benjamin Guggenheim


Peggy, as painted by Franz von Lenbach


Peggy (at left) and her sisters Hazel and Benita


Peggy as a Geisha Girl, 1908

Things changed in 1912, when Benjamin, after installing the new steam pump elevators in the Eiffel Tower was returning home to his family on the first voyage of the Titanic. Though as an 1st class passenger, he was guaranteed a place on a life raft, Benjamin, dressed to the nines, perished. Along, with Benjamin’s death, Peggy’s family experienced diminished wealth as they had to pay off her father’s creditors. However, Peggy still inherited some $400,000, a hefty sum at that time.

In 1919, upon graduating from college, Peggy traveled throughout the United States with a friend, vowing to see as much of the country as possible. Eventually, she ended up in Cincinnati where she entrusted a doctor to perform plastic surgery on her nose, which she’d often compared to that of her sisters’. The surgeon, however, decided mid-way through the surgery, that it was too difficult a procedure and did not finish what he’d begun. Peggy spent the next two months hiding from her friends and the public, as she was left with a much larger nose than before.


Peggy in a 1924 portrait by Man Ray

After regaining some of her confidence, Peggy moved to Paris. There, she became reacquainted with Laurence Vail, an artist and poet whom she’d briefly met in New York. The two began a love affair and shortly thereafter, after they’d ridden up the elevators her father had installed, Laurence proposed. The two were married about two months later.


Laurence Vail

Their marriage was a tumultuous one. By some claims, Laurence was abusive, by others, it was Peggy. The two separated and divorced, but not before they had two children, Sinbad and Pegeen. Peggy would later refer to Laurence as her “eternal husband.”


Peggy, Laurence and Sinbad


Sinbad, Peggy & Pegeen

Peggy then began her first of many love affairs. This would be a common theme in her life and something for which she is often criticized for still today. Tragedy struck again in her life, when this first lover, writer John Holmes, died on an operating table, while having surgery on his wrist. Peggy was left heartbroken and without motivation. Her friend, the same one with whom she’d traveled across the US, suggested that she develop an interest, either becoming a literary publisher or an art dealer. As you can surmise, she chose to pursue the latter.

In 1938, the Guggenheim Jeune opened in London. While organizing a sculpture exhibit, work by Brancusi, Calder, Laurens and others were stopped at customs. James B. Manson, the then director of the Tate Gallery, as an expert for customs authorities, classified the work not as art but as "manufactured goods." Peggy took the matter to the House of Commons which ruled that Manson had gone too far in his judgment of the artwork. Not long after, he lost his position at the Tate, leaving Peggy to remark that her fight had, "rendered a great service to foreign artists and to England."


Work by two of the controversial artists. Brancusi's Maiastra and Head of a Young Girl by Laurens

Guggenheim Jeune, though a success in terms of publicity, was not profitable. Peggy dreamed of opening a museum and contacted her friend, art historian and critic, Herbert Read. Because Peggy herself, was not a good judge of art, Mr. Read made her a list of works that she should seek to buy. Peggy pursued every name on the list and in all collected 10 Picassos, 40 Ernsts, 8 Miros, 4 Magrittes, 3 Man Rays, 3 Dalis, 1 Klee and 1 Chagall. And many many more works.


Herbert Read and Peggy

However, at the same time that Peggy was collecting for her new museum, the Nazis were marching on Europe. It soon became evident that plans for a museum would need to be put on hold and Peggy would need to return to America. But what would she do with the artwork? She contacted the Louvre, which said that the collection was not important nor old enough to be given room in their storage rooms. Ultimately, the solution was to pack the artwork in boxes marked “Household Goods.” In this way, Peggy’s collection was shipped safely out of Europe.

Peggy did not only bring valuable artwork into the states, but she also provided safe passage to a number of friends and family. Her ex-husband Laurence Vail, his soon to be ex-wife Kay and their children, Sinbad and Pegeen, the artist Max Ernst and a few others were all brought safely to the United States thanks to Peggy’s wealth. Peggy has said that the voyage included, “one husband, two ex-wives, seven children and one future husband.”

Max Ernst was that future husband. Shortly after arriving in New York, he was reluctantly convinced to become Peggy’s bridegroom. Peggy paid room and board and Max contributed by providing Peggy with paintings. In this way, her collection has a number of Max Ernst originals.


The Robing of the Bride, Max Ernst, 1940

In 1942, Peggy opened Art of This Century. This gallery pushed the limits of the traditional exhibition space. It was widely acclaimed, placing Peggy at the forefront of the New York City art scene.


The Art of This Century

During this time, she was introduced to the work of Jackson Pollock. Though she was not impressed, her advisers recommended that she give the unknown artist his own show. Peggy provided Jackson Pollack with a generous stipend which was truly necessary. He was, at the time, employed as a carpenter at the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum, and once he exhibited at Art of This Century, he would no doubt lose his position there. Thanks to Peggy’s stipend, Mr. Pollock was able to move from his cramped apartment to a large barn outside of the city, allowing him to work on much bigger canvases which he could then lay down, instead of working vertically.


Jackson Pollock at work

Europe still called to Peggy and in 1947, she divorced Max Ernst and returned to Europe. In 1948, because Greece was embattled in it’s civil war, its pavilion at the Venice Biennale was free. Peggy was invited to exhibit her collection there. She later said of the event, “What I enjoyed most was seeing the name Guggenheim appearing on the maps in the Public Gardens next to the names of Great Britain, France, Holland…I felt as though I were a new European country.”



Peggy was making a name for herself in Venice. She was known as “L’Americana con I cani,” or “The American with the dogs” thanks to her numerous precious dogs who accompanied her everywhere. In fact, fifteen of them are buried next to her today, listed by name with the birth and death dates and a plaque reading, “My Beloved Babies.”


Peggy and her babies

As Peggy introduced herself into Venetian life, she decided that she wanted to permanently settle here. In 1949, she bought Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, dei Leoni meaning “of the lions,” likely because of the yawning lions on the palazzo’s façade but also rumored to be because a former owner had kept lions in the garden. The palazzo is also nicknamed “Palazzo non finito” because though it was originally intended to be five stories high, it was only built to be one story high. History has not recorded the reason for this.


Palazzo Venier dei Leoni as seen from the Grand Canal

Peggy spent the remainder of her years in Venice, exhibiting her collection in her home. While visitors strolled through her garden and her exhibition, she’d hide out in her bedroom which overlooked the Grand Canal. She had many visitors over the years, including Yoko Ono and John Lennon, Truman capote, George Balanchine and nearly all of the artists in her collection and many others who wished to be represented there.

Many institutions and museums, began courting Peggy for her collection. There was a moment of vindication when the Tate requested a show of her work despite it's former director having dismissed it years earlier.

Peggy remained quite the character all of her life, keeping numerous lovers, having affairs with many of the artists she came to know and owning the last private gondola in Venice.


Peggy on her throne in the sculpture garden

In 1979, Peggy died and was interred on her property. Her collection was left to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, with the request that it be left in tact, in Venice. It is still on display much of the way it was in Peggy’s lifetime.


Peggy and her "beloved babies" interned in the sculpture garden