This elegant volume celebrates the 100th anniversary of Peggy Guggenheim's birth in 1898. Guggenheim's granddaughter Karole Vail provides an intimate biographical account of the collector's extraordinary life, from her privileged upbringing through her friendships with such avant-garde figures as Samuel Beckett and Marcel Duchamp. Before World War II, she ran the Guggenheim Jeune gallery in London, quickly accumulating a superb collection of Surrealist and abstract art. In 1942, she escaped to New York with Max Ernst and ...
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This elegant volume celebrates the 100th anniversary of Peggy Guggenheim's birth in 1898. Guggenheim's granddaughter Karole Vail provides an intimate biographical account of the collector's extraordinary life, from her privileged upbringing through her friendships with such avant-garde figures as Samuel Beckett and Marcel Duchamp. Before World War II, she ran the Guggenheim Jeune gallery in London, quickly accumulating a superb collection of Surrealist and abstract art. In 1942, she escaped to New York with Max Ernst and opened the landmark Art of The Century gallery, where she exhibited her collection and works by such emerging artists as Jackson Pollock. Guggenheim finally settled in Venice in the 18th-century palazzo that became the Peggy Guggenheim Collection after her death. Her guestbooks, pages from which are published here for the first time, reveal an astounding array of visitors and drawings by Jean Arp, Marc Chagall, and Alberto Giacometti, among others. Thomas Messer, former director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, sums up the courtship that ended with the donation of Guggenheim's collection--much of which is reproduced here in full color--to the foundation. Numerous personal photographs make this centennial celebration a beautiful tribute to a life dedicated to art.
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Seller's Description:
Near Fine in Fine Condition jacket. 151 pp., many illustrations in color. Slight yellowing to the edges, consistent with age. A quarter inch remainder mark to the bottom edge, center. Published on the occasion of the exhibition from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York NY June 12-September 2, 1998 and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice September 29, 1998-January 12, 1999. Dustjacket is protected with a mylar cover.
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Seller's Description:
VG. Duotone illus. wraps; 151 pp.; Profusely illustrated with color and bw figures. Accompanied the exhibition of the same name. "Born into a wealthy New York family, Peggy-whose Uncle Solomon would establish the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation-participated in the cultural ferment of life in London and Paris during the 192Os and 193Os. Her friends included many of the most significant avant-garde figures of the era, such as Samuel Beckett and Marcel Duchamp. In London, she ran Guggenheim Jeune, her cutting-edge gallery devoted to contemporary art. During the months surrounding the outbreak of World War II, Peggy accelerated her purchases of abstract and Surrealist art until she was buying virtually one work every day, eventually amassing one of the most important collections of Modern art in private hands. After escaping to New York in the company of Max Ernst, she established the gallery Art of This Century, which from 1942 to 1947 featured her collection as well as the first or early solo exhibitions for such artists as Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko." "In 1948, Peggy settled permanently in Venice, where her home, the eighteenth-century Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, would become the Peggy Guggenheim Collection after her death in 1979. The collection is now one of the most celebrated for visitors to Venice. Vail's essay provides important new information on the Venice years, during which Peggy kept guest books that record the visits of an astonishing array of international personalities. Pages from these guest books-published here for the first time-include unique drawings by such artists as Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, and Saul Weinberg."--Jacket.