This new collection publication is the first complete assessment of Peggy Guggenheim’s sweeping career as a collector and patron of the arts. The book begins with her early days as an aspiring gallerist in London, where she was pivotal in introducing radical modern art to the sedate British capital. It follows Guggenheim across the Channel, to the heyday of her collecting period in Paris during the fraught beginnings of World War II, when she nonetheless famously acquired “a picture a day.” Guggenheim’s path is then traced to New York and Art of This Century, her groundbreaking museum/gallery, which set the stage for the young American Abstract Expressionist artists. Notably, The Last Dogaressa also attentively addresses the thirty generative years Guggenheim lived in Venice. There she settled on the Grand Canal, finally established her collection in a permanent home, and opened it to the public. This richly illustrated volume presents an array of historical photographs, including many published here for the first time, and reproductions of iconic and lesser-known artworks that convey the full breadth of her collection. An international cadre of scholars thoughtfully consider her visionary activities over four decades with new research and insights revealed in a dozen essays and a trio of interviews.

The Last Dogaressa provides essential reading and serves as an invaluable source of information for all who are interested in Peggy Guggenheim’s fascinating and multifaceted story, as well as the formation of one of the most significant and most beloved collections of modern twentieth-century art.