World Famous Comics: Peggy Guggenheim: A Collector's Album
Peggy Guggenheim: A Collector's Album
By: Lawrence Rumney, Jack Altman Publisher: Flammarion Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Flammarion Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 144 Publication Date: August 20, 1996 Release Date: August 20, 1996
One woman of the 20th century who continues to fascinate and achieve an ever-growing popularity is Peggy Guggenheim. Here, at last, is the re-publication of her personal biography. Art patron extraordinaire, who effortlessly combined the personal and professional (indeed, they were almost indistinguishable), her life was marked by drama and adventure. Every aspect of that extraordinary life is reproduced in this lavishly illustrated volume, beginning with her privileged childhood as a member of the wealthy and powerful Guggenheim family and ending with her settling in her Venetian palazzo on the Grand Canal. Whether posing for Man Ray or Berenice Abbott; keeping company with James Joyce, Samuel Beckett or marrying Max Ernst; helping Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell or Mark Rothko to become major figures; Peggy Guggenheim had a lifetime of historic interludes with some of the most notable artists of the 20th century. Illustrated with both momentous and casual moments, here are the most private and revealing parts of Guggenheim's exceptional life.
In Search of a likeable Peggy... Peggy Guggenheim was a privileged and independent woman who was in the absolute middle of the international art transformation from Surrealism in pre-WWII Europe to the Abstract Expressionism of post WWII New York. She had many astute friends and her own independent view of art collecting. Never-the-less she's a hard person to love or idolize, due to the many personality quirks she loudly exhibited. Her insecurities about her looks compelled her to sleep with anyone she could, as validation that she was not that unattractive. Her art philanthropy was cancelled by her public regrets later, that she gifted so much art she never felt would be THAT valuable. Still, this is an inside look into the Grand Dame on the Grand Canal in Venice that is a fairly balanced view. The cover photo of Peggy is not a good choice for a first-time reader: Peggy often put on exagerated sunglasses when someone tried to photograph her, to hide her discomfort about the prospect. A better choice would have been a photo of her when she had let her guard down.