Peggy Guggenheim

Peggy Guggenheim was an American art collector, bohemian, and socialite. Born into the wealthy New York City Guggenheim family in 1896, she became one of the most influential figures in modern art. She was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with the Titanic in 1912, and the niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, founder of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.

Guggenheim collected art in Europe and America between 1938 and 1946, showing her collection as she built it. In 1949 she settled in Venice, where she lived and exhibited until her death in 1979. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a modern art museum on the Grand Canal, remains one of the city's most visited attractions. She financed the careers of many artists, including Jackson Pollock. Her personal life was as unconventional as her art patronage. She claimed to have slept with 1,000 men while in Europe, and her affairs included Samuel Beckett, Max Ernst, and others. She married Laurence Vail, a Dada sculptor, with whom she had two children, and later married artist Max Ernst.

She was slim, with red hair and green eyes, and had pierced ears. Her life was marked by both artistic influence and personal scandal, making her a lasting figure in art history. She died on December 23, 1979, at the age of 83.