Located in the former Venetian residence of the North American millionaire Peggy Guggenheim, the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, this museum houses the most important collection of European and American art from the first half of the 20th century in Italy.

The palace, which is on the Grand Canal itself, is an unfinished work by the architect Lorenzo Boschetti, who began its construction in the 1750s. It was bought by Peggy Guggenheim in 1949. In those times, the art collector undertook an influential role of patron, which enabled artists such as Jackson Pollock to attain fame and international recognition. Max Ernst, another of her protégées, had become her second husband in 1942.

The museum opened in 1980, and represents one of the main museum attractions in Venice, since, accustomed to the exaggerated historical pose of the city, symbolised by architectural jewels of Byzantine and Renaissance art, it is surprising to see such modern pieces.

Among the 200 artists represented through these canvases and sculptures, feature authors such as Miró, De Chirico, Magritte, Kandinsky and Mondrian. You should also know that the museum’s collections are particularly rich in works belonging to avant-garde movements such as Surrealism, Futurism and Cubism. The artists with most works on show here are Picasso, Ernst, Giacometti, Pollock, Tancredi and Pegeen Vail.

As well as the frequent temporary exhibitions, in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection you can appreciate, both in the different rooms and in the garden, many sculptures by artists such as Brancusi, Arp, Calder and Moore and even a small show of tribal art from Africa and Oceania.