I've given a couple of public talks now on Peggy Guggenheim, and I have to say, she was one firecracker of a lady - in the museum she's so very present, it honestly feels like she's just going to walk around a corner.
What an energetic, passionate and flamboyant woman. It was her friendships and relationships with some of Modern Art's most important players that led to a collection that is incredibly comprehensive, representing equally from the ranks of the Surrealists and from the abstract artists.
She's equally famous now for her sartorial choices. The iconic batwing glasses were designed by American artist Edward Melcarth (above). Below, a relatively recent Harper's Bazaar editorial inspired by aforementioned glasses (courtesy harpersbazaar.com)
I ended up sharing a boat with her former neighbors a couple of weeks ago, and they remember Peggy in her 70s, sunbathing on the roof of her palazzo in a bikini, surrounded by handsome young men. She always took an evening ride in her private gondola around Venice.
I really recommend reading her autobiography, titled Out of this Century. It's quite a rollicking read to say the least! Below is a picture of Peggy's onetime New York gallery space, courtesy of guggenheim.com:
The other two images are from the Guggenheim and Rijksmuseum websites.
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