Venue:
Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

Curators:
Antonio Homem and Philip Rylands.

Artists:
Carlo Alfano, Giovanni Anselmo, Arman, John Baldessari, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Lawrence Beck, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Jim Dine, Elger Esser, Robert Feintuch, Tano Festa, Lucio Fontana, Gilbert & George, Philip Haas, David Hockney, Candida Höfer, Clay Ketter, Anselm Kiefer, Jeff Koons, Jannis Kounellis, Barry Le Va, Sol Lewitt, Roy Lichtenstein, Piero Manzoni, Mario Merz, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Claes Oldenburg, Luigi Ontani, Giulio Paolini, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Anne and Patrick Poirier, Rona Pondick, Robert Rauschenberg, Andrea Robbins and Max Becher, James Rosenquist, Clifford Ross, Mimmo Rotella, Mario Schifano, Haim Steinbach, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Cy Twombly, Wilhelm Von Gloeden, Andy Warhol, William Wegman, Robert Yarber, and Gilberto Zorio.

Exhibition description:
This exhibition is a tribute to Ileana Sonnabend, who, over a fifty year period, promoted the avant-gardes and is considered among the greatest dealers of her time. Ileana Sonnabend felt a strong affinity to Italy, and for Venice in particular where she retained an apartment. Antonio Homem has therefore drawn from his vast knowledge of the Sonnabend Collection to present the exhibition with works that feature Italy as the leitmotif. Thus, fourteen of the almost fifty artists represented are Italian together with works by artists from the United States, Europe and Japan which are diversely related to Italy. This may manifest as a Catholic-based tradition of Alpine handicraft in Jeff Koons’ Buster Keaton, or Italian cooking in Claes Oldenburg’s Pop Art. Roy Lichtenstein has utilized motifs from Mediterranean classical architecture and the great traditions of Italian iconography are displayed by Robert Feintuch, Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly. Italian literature also finds it way via the work of Arman and Robert Morris and manipulations of Italian modernist painting (Balla), architecture (Sant’Elia), design (Alessi) and evocations of Roman archeological sites by Gilbert & George all find places in this exhibition. Given the diversity and variety of the responses to Italy in this exhibition, the viewer is assaulted with a wonderful exploration of topography, culture and traditions that continue to nourish contemporary art production. In sum, this exhibition gives one the opportunity to witness the full measure of Ileana Sonnabend’s enduring legacy and an appreciation of how Sonnabend remained at the forefront of the new art to the end of her life.

Partnerships:
Organized by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection Venice in conjunction with the Sonnabend Gallery, New York.

Catalogue:
Homem, Antonio and Rylands, Philip. Ileana Sonnabend. An Italian Portrait. Venice: Peggy Guggenheim Collection, 2011.

Two catalogues, in English and Italian, with prefaces by Richard Armstrong (Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum) and Philip Rylands (Director, Peggy Guggenheim Collection), and essays by Achille Bonito Oliva and Germano Celant. Catalogue also contains an interview with Antonio Homem by Philip Rylands and a catalogue of works with entries written by Mario Codognato.

Library location: GUGG PGC 2011.05 (English), GUGG PGC 2011 .04 (Italian), and UFFICIO 2011.