Description
Palazzo Venier dei Leoni is a low white palace on the Grand Canal, in the Dorsoduro district, that houses the Peggy Guggenheim Collection: Picasso, Dalí, Magritte, Pollock, in a house where the American Peggy Guggenheim lived with her dogs. It is one of Italy's leading museums of European and American art of the first half of the 20th century.
Niece of the magnate Solomon Guggenheim and for a few years the wife of the painter Max Ernst, Peggy bought the palace in 1948 and lived there surrounded by her collection. From 1949 part of the house was open to the public.
Until her death in 1979, once a week most of the house was open to everyone, free of charge. She rests in a corner of the garden, in an urn, together with her many dogs.
The collection includes Cubism, Surrealism, abstraction, Italian Futurism and Abstract Expressionism: works by Picasso, Dalí, Magritte, Kandinsky, Duchamp, Max Ernst, Boccioni, Pollock, and a sculpture from Brâncuși's Bird in Space series. There are also many Italian artists of informal abstraction, such as Lucio Fontana and Emilio Vedova.
In front of the palace, on the terrace overlooking the Canal, stands Angel of the City by Marino Marini, a bronze from 1948, the most famous work in the collection. Inside you can also see Peggy's bedroom, with its original furnishings.
The palace has a history all its own. It was designed in the mid-1700s for the Venier family, who dreamed of a colossal residence inspired by Palladio and Longhena, but built only the ground floor: that is why it is so low compared with its neighbors.
Why? Either the family ran out of money, or the powerful Corner family, who lived across the way, did everything to avoid losing their view. The model of how it was meant to be is in the Correr Museum.
The name “dei Leoni” probably comes from the lion heads carved at the base of the facade. According to legend, instead, the Veniers kept a real lion in the garden.
Among the best-known paintings are Magritte's Empire of Light and Picasso's On the Beach. In 2012 these were joined by the works donated by the Schulhofs, including Rothko, Warhol and Kapoor.
Don't miss
• Angel of the City.
• Bird in Space.
• Peggy's bedroom.
• The garden.
Did you know?
• The palace has a rusticated facade in Istrian stone, with eight windows on the water and lion masks.
• In the 1900s it also belonged to Luisa Casati, who was soon forced to sell it.
Niece of the magnate Solomon Guggenheim and for a few years the wife of the painter Max Ernst, Peggy bought the palace in 1948 and lived there surrounded by her collection. From 1949 part of the house was open to the public.
Until her death in 1979, once a week most of the house was open to everyone, free of charge. She rests in a corner of the garden, in an urn, together with her many dogs.
The collection includes Cubism, Surrealism, abstraction, Italian Futurism and Abstract Expressionism: works by Picasso, Dalí, Magritte, Kandinsky, Duchamp, Max Ernst, Boccioni, Pollock, and a sculpture from Brâncuși's Bird in Space series. There are also many Italian artists of informal abstraction, such as Lucio Fontana and Emilio Vedova.
In front of the palace, on the terrace overlooking the Canal, stands Angel of the City by Marino Marini, a bronze from 1948, the most famous work in the collection. Inside you can also see Peggy's bedroom, with its original furnishings.
The palace has a history all its own. It was designed in the mid-1700s for the Venier family, who dreamed of a colossal residence inspired by Palladio and Longhena, but built only the ground floor: that is why it is so low compared with its neighbors.
Why? Either the family ran out of money, or the powerful Corner family, who lived across the way, did everything to avoid losing their view. The model of how it was meant to be is in the Correr Museum.
The name “dei Leoni” probably comes from the lion heads carved at the base of the facade. According to legend, instead, the Veniers kept a real lion in the garden.
Among the best-known paintings are Magritte's Empire of Light and Picasso's On the Beach. In 2012 these were joined by the works donated by the Schulhofs, including Rothko, Warhol and Kapoor.
Don't miss
• Angel of the City.
• Bird in Space.
• Peggy's bedroom.
• The garden.
Did you know?
• The palace has a rusticated facade in Istrian stone, with eight windows on the water and lion masks.
• In the 1900s it also belonged to Luisa Casati, who was soon forced to sell it.