Peggy Guggenheim Collection

Peggy Guggenheim, the American heiress, collector and champion of the avant-garde, bought the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal in 1948 and lived there for the rest of her life, filling it with the art she had collected and the artists she knew. The palazzo is one of the oddest buildings on the canal: a single, low storey of white stone, because the eighteenth-century Venier family never completed the grand palace they planned. Today it is one of the most important museums of modern art in Italy and one of the most enjoyable anywhere, partly because it still feels like a home. The collection reads like a survey of the art of the first half of the twentieth century: Cubism with Picasso and Braque, the Futurists, Kandinsky and Mondrian, Brancusi's bronze Bird in Space, and a superb Surrealist holding with Max Ernst (whom Peggy married), Magritte, Dalí and de Chirico. She was also one of the earliest supporters of Jackson Pollock, and the museum has an outstanding group of his paintings. On the canal-side terrace, Marino Marini's bronze horseman throws his arms wide toward the passing boats, and the sculpture garden, where Peggy's ashes lie beside the graves of her beloved dogs, is one of the most peaceful corners of the city. The museum is open daily except Tuesdays and Christmas Day, with the ticket office closing an hour before the doors. Book online to skip the queue at the entrance on busy days, especially during the Biennale.

What is on: alongside the permanent collection, the museum stages temporary exhibitions, and from 14 November 2026 to 29 March 2027 it presents Fucina degli Angeli, an exhibition on Peggy Guggenheim and twentieth-century artistic glass, a natural companion to a day on Murano. The permanent galleries also include a special installation for the centenary of the art review Cahiers d'Art and a display of art from Africa in the collection. Exhibitions change regularly, so check the official programme when planning.

Visiting tips: the museum is compact, and two hours is plenty for most people. Begin with the terrace and the view of the Grand Canal, then work through the collection rooms in the palazzo, the newer wings and the garden. Children are well catered for, with family activities and workshops on many weekends; Venetian residents and local university students have free afternoons on Thursdays, which can make that slot busier. Fast-track entry sold on Tiqets gives a fixed time and avoids the line at the door; you can also buy from the museum's own ticket site. The café and shop are good, and the shop is one of the better places in Venice for design gifts.

The museum stands in Dorsoduro, between the Accademia Bridge and the Salute, and is reached on foot from either or by vaporetto to the Accademia or Salute stops. Make it part of a Dorsoduro day: the Accademia in the morning for the old masters, lunch nearby, the Guggenheim for the moderns, then the Salute and the Punta della Dogana at the tip of the district as the light goes gold. Remember the Tuesday closure when planning a short trip, as it catches many visitors out. A little background makes the visit richer. During the Second World War Peggy ran the Art of This Century gallery in New York, where Jackson Pollock had his first solo show, and in 1948 she showed her collection at the Venice Biennale in the empty Greek pavilion before settling in the palazzo for good. After her death in 1979 the house passed to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, founded by her uncle, which runs it today. Look out for Alexander Calder's silver bedhead, made for Peggy, and for the photographs of her at home, which explain why the museum still feels lived in.