Guggenheim Museum

It's hard to miss the gleaming white stout palace that houses the Peggy Guggenheim Museum on Venice's Grand Canal. Its low profile amid grander buildings and sleek white facade means it stands out. And that's just what it's supposed to do, as its owner made a splash with her verve and penchant for modern art. Peggy Guggenheim championed contemporary artists and lobbied for their place in their art world, so dominated by old masters, and said it was her duty to protect the art of her own time.

Peggy Guggenheim herself was a character. Of Jewish-American roots, her father's family made their fortune in metals and mining, while her mother's family were bankers. Her father died on the Titanic. Peggy moved in intellectual and artistic circles. She and her first husband were part of Paris's expat boheme society. She started amassing artwork, fleeing Paris just before the Nazi invasion, and returning to New York, where she opened a museum to showcase the pieces she had purchased in Europe. Following WWII, Peggy returned to Europe, this time to Venice where she purchased the unfinished Palazzo Veneir dei Leoni. She organized exhibits for her collections in various venues around Italy and Europe, while she adorned her palace with a sculpture garden and other avant garde works.

The Palazzo Veneir dei Leoni was started in the 1750s but never completed. Its facade was supposed to echo that of the Palazzo Cornaro (now the Palazzo della Prefettura) across the canal. Instead, it's single-story profile contrasts, just the kind of statement Guggenheim liked to make. Her museum is filled with surrealism, futurism, abstract and cubist works. It is considered the most important modern art collection in Europe. The owner is buried in the sculpture garden along with her beloved dogs.

The Peggy Guggenheim Museum is open daily from 10:00 AM til 6:00 PM. There is a lovely pavilion in the sculpture garden with a cafe and bookstore.