Venetian Matters: An Opening at the 'Peggy'

Friday evening there was an opening at the Peggy Guggenheim for the new show:

I VORTICISTI: ARTISTI RIBELLI A LONDRA E NEW YORK, 1914–1918.

But more on that later.

I walked over to the Rialto to catch a vaporetto down to the Salute which is near the Palazzo Venier dei Lione, Peggy's home in Venice, now the Museum. Dressed with 2 scarves, it is a little nippy- but no snow,
I boarded the numbero 1, the 'Broadway local' of Venice,
as it stops at every stop.

Looking ahead the constant traffic is fun to watch, the gondoli e taxi mingle with the barges, delivery boats, and the Vaporetti making their regular stops.

Here, at the Accademia stop, where the east and west moving vessels arrive at the Fermatta simultaneously, we can see not only the great Ponte dell' Accademia, but the Salute in the distance, the Guggenheim hidden by the vaporetto, and the face of the Palazzo Barbaro on the left.

The Barbaro, the white Palazzo next to the yellow one off to port, was purchased by the Curtis family from Boston in the 1870's and it is where they lived and entertained their guests for over a century. One of those guests, Isabella Stewart Gardiner, from New York as well as Boston, was so enchanted with the ambiance of the Barbaro, that she based the design of her new home in the Fens outside Boston on it. She made it her museum. The Barbaro is across the Grande Canal from the future 'Peggy'...hopefully more later.

The vaporetto continues east, our stop is off to starboard, but a strong cold gust makes itself known. Check those catspaws ahead. Can hardly hold the camera.

I arrived at the Guggenheim just in time for the pre-opening tour of the Vorticist Show. The exhibit is

an interesting in depth look at the moment in English (and Anglo-American) art at the time of the Cubist ascendance in Europe. A collection of photography, painting, sculpture and writing, always the writing which is needed to explain (to Pound into in this case) the ideas of art to those non visually literate. On the pre-opening tour, the curator Vivien Green, described and explained those ideas, and the events in New York and London which fueled these artists just before the Great War. A well designed exhibition.

Anyway, the show officially opened an hour later with a grand Festa in the museum garden and while many were examining the show inside, I was examining the show outside.

The neon art piece on the wall behind the throne is by Mario Merz

'Se la Forma Scompare la sua Radice e Eterna'

If the Form Vanishes Its Root Is Eternal

The Exhibit is officially open and everyone is milling about in the garden with a red wine, prosecco or the favorite of the evening mulled wine: vino rosso caldo. Parlano italiano, and after a sip or 2 of the rosso caldo, I could not distinguish, so I followed the Woman Walking...

...there is an aura about her which keeps most at a distance.

In other parts of this wonderful sculpture garden all were talking and bundled up.

And even though it is quite chilly, there is always a reminder, like this grand Palm, of what the Tempo is really like, not vanished, always eternal...an idea to keep close through life and art.