Yesterday was Peggy Guggenheim day. In '07, they'd moved her extraordinary collection to the smaller annex of the palazzo to make way for a couple of Biennale installations which, in my humble opinion, were a complete waste of space. This year, her collection is back in place where it should be - with work by a virtual "who's who" of early to mid-20th Century masters - Picasso, Chagall, Modigliani, Braque, Man Ray, Klee, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Miro, Calder, Brancusi, Giacometti, Rothko, de Kooning, a roomful of Jackson Pollocks, and my personal favorite, Giorgio Morandi. There is also a wing devoted to Masterpieces of Futurism - early 20th Century work. All of it is magnificent as is the location. And, of course, no photos.
The special exhibitions on view to coincide but having nothing officially to do with the Biennale as I was repeatedly reminded are "Tower" (see photo above) by Wim Delvoye, a Belgian artist of whom I had never heard. It is an imposing Gothic piece out on the veranda fronting the Grand Canal and for a couple of nights before the Biennale opened the top kept changing colors. That ended...along with the fancy parties.
The other exhibit - in the annex - is Gluts, a series of about three dozen fantastic sculptures by Robert Rauschenberg. Check it out... http://www.guggenheim.org/venice/exhibitions/rauschenberg-gluts
Oh, and there's a room in the palazzo devoted to work by Peggy Guggenheim's daughter, Pegeen Vail who died tragically in 1967 at the age of 41. Her art is usually described as "primitive." I find it charming and extremely optimistic. Fonso, you might want to look her up - I think you would love the work.
And that was enough art for one day.
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