Peggy Guggenheim: The Shock Of The Modern

Oneoftwentieth-centuryAmerica’smostinfluentialpatronsofthearts,PeggyGuggenheim(1898–1979)broughttowidepublicattentiontheworkofsuchmodernmastersasJacksonPollockandManRay.Inhertime,therewasnostrongeradvocateforthegroundbreakingandtheavant-garde.HermidtowngallerywastheacknowledgedcenterofthepostwarNewYorkartscene,andhermuseumontheGrandCanalinVeniceremainsoneoftheworld’sgreatcollectionsofmodernart.Yetasrenownedasshewasfortheartandartistsshesotirelesslychampioned,Guggenheimwasequallyfamousforherunconventionalpersonallife,andforherironic,playfuldesiretoshock.Acclaimedbest-sellingauthorFrancineProseoffersasingularreadingofGuggenheim’slifethatwillenthrallenthusiastsoftwentieth-centuryart,aswellasanyoneinterestedinAmericanandEuropeancultureandtheinterrelationshipsbetweenthem.ThelivelyandinsightfulnarrativefollowsGuggenheimthroughvirtuallyeveryaspectofherextraordinarylife,fromheruniquecollectinghabitsandparadigm-changingdiscoveries,tohercelebrityfriendships,failedmarriages,andscandalousaffairs,andProsedeliversacolorfulportraitofadefiantlyuncompromisingwomanwhomaintainedapowerfulupperhandinamale-dominatedworld.ProsealsoexploresthewaysinwhichGuggenheim’simagewasfilteredthroughthelensofinsidiousantisemitism.