Peggy Guggenheim Collection

Lonely Planet review

Eccentric millionaire art collector Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979) called the unfinished Palazzo Venier dei Leoni home for 30 years. She left behind, apart from her cherished dogs buried with her in the sculpture garden, a collection representing most of the major art movements of the 20th century. Works by Picasso, Dali and Miro make this an essential visit.

The east wing houses early Cubist paintings including Picasso's The Poet (1911) and Pipe, Glass, Bottle of Vieux Marc (1914), Georges Braque's The Clarinet (1912) and many other greats of 20th-century art. Interesting works from Spain include Dalí's Birth of Liquid Desires (1932) and fellow Catalan Joan Miró's Seated Woman II (1939).

Among the many paintings of Max Ernst, Guggenheim's husband and doyen of Surrealism, is the disturbing Antipope (1942). Other names to look for include: Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Paul Delvaux, Alexander Calder, Juan Gris, Kurt Schwitters, Paul Klee, Francis Bacon, Giorgio de Chirico, Piet Mondrian and Marc Chagall.

Out in the sculpture garden are several pieces by Henry Moore and Jean Arp. The rear of the mansion hosts a separate collection of Italian Futurists and other modern artists from the peninsula, including Giorgio Morandi, Giacomo Balla and one work by Amedeo Modigliani. The west wing hosts temporary exhibitions.