Peggy Guggenheim and London

Peggy Guggenheim needs little introduction for her contributions to twentieth-century art. Yet her formative years as a gallerist and her London gallery, Guggenheim Jeune, that she opened at the age
of forty, have been relatively overlooked. Situated in a former pawnbroker’s shop at 30 Cork Street, Guggenheim Jeune operated for eighteen months between January 1938 and June 1939. While its lifespan may have been brief its influence was considerable, both on the art world at the time and on Guggenheim herself; by the time Guggenheim Jeune closed she was a self-confessed art addict.

Peggy Guggenheim and London is intended as an anniversary celebration of Guggenheim as one of the first female gallerists in London and will showcase her parallel collecting interests in Abstraction and Surrealism through a display of works by Jean (Hans) Arp and Yves Tanguy. The accompanying catalogue includes an essay from Susan Davidson, curator and art historian, with previously unpublished material that came to light as a result of research undertaken for this exhibition; copies of a number of key documents will be illustrated, including unseen floor plans of the gallery space.
Catalogue