1948: la Biennale di Peggy Guggenheim

Curated by Gražina Subelytė

Projects Rooms

2018 will mark the 70th anniversary of the exhibition of Peggy Guggenheim’s collection in the Greek Pavilion at the 24th Venice Biennale. It was a landmark event. Not only it was the first display of a comprehensive modern art collection in Italy after two decades of dictatorial regime, but also the first showing of Peggy’s collection in Europe, following the end of WWII and her move from New York to Venice. More than any other exhibition in that Biennale, Peggy’s collection offered a broad overview of the artistic developments of the first half of the 20th century, including Cubism, abstraction, Surrealism and, above all, the latest developments of American art, marking the first sighting of Jackson Pollock’s art in Europe. The layout of the pavilion was designed by the eminent Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa. The show will include multimedia, photographic, and other ephemeral materials describing the pavilion and Peggy’s collaboration with Scarpa, and a 3D model of the exhibition layout, thus allowing for the examination and envisioning of this watershed moment in the career of Peggy Guggenheim and the history of the Venice Biennale.