Peggy Guggenheim is an American gallery owner, art collector and philanthropist. She made a huge contribution to the development of contemporary art.
Margaret Guggenheim, the youngest child of a large industrialist who died on the Titanic, went down in history under the name Peggy. Her biography began in 1898.
Choice of future activities
The girl was born on August 26 in New York. Father, constantly busy with work, spent time in Europe. In 1912, misfortune happened. Benjamin Guggenheim died during the Titanic disaster. He refused his place in the boat for the sake of women with children. The daughter became the heiress, but only after adulthood.
She remained in the care of Uncle Solomon. The famous entrepreneur was a great connoisseur of art. He developed a refined taste in the girl. Niece worked in a bookstore, not wanting to sit idle. She organized exhibitions of avant-garde writers. After receiving the inheritance, Peggy went to Paris.
She met many celebrities. Guggenheim attended exhibitions, met with surrealists. Margaret became for many a patroness. She decided to become a producer of films and create her own gallery. The heiress began to create a collection. She decided to invest all the money in painting. Assistant in the purchase of works of art was the famous American painter Marcel Duchamp.
He recommended a novice gallery owner to purchase paintings by novice artists. Thanks to intuition, Peggy acquired promising paintings. Her collection includes works by Kandinsky, Picasso, Dali, Cocteau. Gradually, the canvases grew in price, and the state multiplied.
At the same time, Guggenheim, who diligently promoted their work, prepared the recognition of many famous painters later. She organized exhibitions for them, found ready to acquire their paintings by customers.
The beginning of the collection
In 1938, on Cork Street in London at the first Guggenheim Jeune exhibition, paintings by Jean Cocteau presented there were a huge success. With the outbreak of World War II, the gallery owner acquired most of the works of the surrealist, adding to the already impressive collection. Then she exhibited the work of the novice painter Kandinsky.
By the early forties, Peggy rented a visit for a gallery in Paris. But due to the occupation of France, she hastened to leave the country and went to New York. The gallery of Art of This Century opened there soon turned into one of the most original and fashionable exhibitions. Until 1946, the gallery owner collected noteworthy paintings in America and Europe.
The collection was constantly growing, replenished with masterpieces. Guggenheim decided to create her own museum. For three years, the gallery owner participated in various exhibitions. In the fifties, Peggy visited the Venice Biennale. She realized that it was time to organize a museum that belonged only to her. To achieve the goal, Venice was perfect. On the banks of the canal, the celebrity acquired a snow-white palace.
Her collection of rare books moved into him. The patron organized the decor according to her own taste. Since 1949, the house became a museum in which the owner lived next to works of art.
For a decade, she has collected more than three hundred works by outstanding masters. Guggenheim decided to stay living in Venice. The extravagant and purposeful nature of all the actions carried out with an amazing instinct.
Even in her personal life, she was guided by common sense. Peggy's chosen one was Lawrence Weil. In the company of her husband, a semi-artist, half-writer, Margaret began the conquest of Paris.
Family and vocation
Weil introduced his wife to the elite, the sights of Paris. The family lasted 7 years. The couple had two children, Sinbad and Peggin.
Gradually, Peggy realized that she and her husband had become strangers. She retained friendly relations, as she remembered that Weil had opened the doors to the Paris elite for her.
The new chosen one Guggenheim was the writer Johnny Holmes. The third spouse was Max Ernst. The paintings of the great artist adorned his wife's collection.
Peggy received the title of guardian angel of the surrealists and avant-garde. Among her talents was the gift of choosing truly outstanding personalities as partners in life.
