Peggy Guggenheim : a celebration /

Vail, Project Curatorial Assistant at the Guggenheim Museum and family member, examines the formation of Peggy Guggenheim's formidable art collection. Source materials lavishly reproduced include works from the collection, rare photographs of Peggy Guggenheim alone or with her artistic friends, and pages from guest books illustrated by visitors to her Venetian palazzo, including Gino Severini, Alberto Giacometti, Marc Chagall, and Joan Miro. Unfortunately the accompanying text, which contains an abbreviated biography of Guggenheim, a record of her friendships, and an introduction to exhibitions she helped organize, is turgid and lacking in art historical insight. The text functions as a long, verbose "name dropping" exercise that does little justice to Guggenheim's achievements as an art patron with an insightful eye for modernity. A brief essay by Thomas Messer, former Director of the Guggenheim Museum, appended to the primary text, reveals how the Peggy Guggenheim collection--the palazzo in Venice--became part of the museum's administrative responsibility. Recommended only for the illustrations, especially photographs of Guggenheim in informal exhibition spaces, further indicating the strength of the material left untapped by the author. General readers. E. K. Menon; Minnesota State University

Peggy Guggenheim was among the most intriguing cultural figures of her day‘as intriguing as the vast collection of modern art she amassed over her lifetime. Her granddaughter pays her a fitting tribute in this lavishly illustrated volume with photos of family and friends, stunning reproductions of artworks (by Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, and others), and facsimiles from her famous guest books (including entries from such notables as Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, and Ned Rorem). The account of Guggenheim's life is absorbing, exploring her ties within the international art community, her personal life, the stories behind many of her acquisitions of modern abstract works, and her romance with the city of Venice. This is all presented with beauty, charm, and candor, providing an empathetic acquaintance with this remarkable woman, whose striking collection is a continual delight for visitors to La Serenissima. An essay by Thomas M. Messer, former director of the Guggenheim Foundation, provides an illuminating close to the book. Essential for art lovers.‘Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.