Peggy Guggenheim: Heiress and Collector
With Philip Rylands, President and CEO of The Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida, and former Director of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice
This lecture tells the story of Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979), one of the most fascinating and influential figures of the 20th-century avant-garde, remarkable for her collection of Cubist, Surrealist and Abstract art and for her patronage of Jackson Pollock.
Guggenheim belonged to the celebrated New York family of copper magnates. In 1921 she traveled to Europe where, thanks to her first husband Laurence Vail, she joined avant-garde literary and art circles in Paris. She opened a contemporary art gallery in London in 1938 and a year later began planning her own museum of modern art. The outbreak of World War II constrained her to return to the United Sates. She married her second husband, Max Ernst, and opened a now-legendary museum/gallery in New York called Art of This Century. When the war was over, she returned to Europe, and in 1951 fulfilled her ambition to open a museum, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, on the Grand Canal in Venice.
Philip Rylands
Philip Rylands earned an art history Ph.D. from Cambridge University and has published books about the church of the Madonna dell’Orto in Venice (1976), Palma Vecchio (1988 and 1992), the history of the US Pavilion of the Venice Biennale (1993) and Peggy Guggenheim (2004). He has curated exhibitions, written exhibition and book reviews on art, and taught for several U.S. universities. From 1979 to 2017 he was Administrator, Deputy Director and Director of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (a branch of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation) in Venice. Since 2019 he has been President and CEO of The Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida.
More Tours, Events & Exhibitions
Beneath The Breakers Tour
Daily
10:00am
Explore the underground systems that made this great house a marvel of technology for its time.
June 1 - September 1, offered at 10 am & 2 pm
Third Floor Preservation in Progress Tour
Daily
12 pm and 2 pm
For the first time in the 129-year history of The Breakers, the private third-floor family space occupied by generations of Vanderbilts is open for public tours.
Servant Life Tour
Daily
10 am and 2 pm
See and hear how the other half lived. This tour will highlight the stories of some of the men and women who worked to service the social whirl of Newport during the Gilded Age.
June 1 - September 1, offered at 10 am, 12 pm & 2 pm
Inside “The Gilded Age” Tour
May 2 – June 27, 2025
Fans of HBO’s "The Gilded Age" will love this guide-led tour of locations in four of the Newport Mansions where Julian Fellowes' historical drama series was filmed. Fridays only, May 2 through June 27.
Iconic Trees of Newport II
May 8, 2025
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Learn about Newport’s landscape history, the threat posed by beech leaf disease and planting strategies for the future. This educational forum is a collaborative effort among The Preservation Society of Newport County, Bartlett Tree Experts, the City of Newport, Salve Regina University, Aquidneck Land Trust and The Newport Tree Conservancy.
SOLD OUT for in-person attendance. Virtual attendance is available.
Annual Plant Sale at Green Animals Topiary Garden
May 9 – 11, 2025
8:00am – 10:00am
Get your garden going or find nice springtime and Mother's Day gifts for friends and family! A variety of flowers, vegetables and specialty plants are available while supplies last.
Young Patron Event: “Rendez-Vous with the Roaring ’20s”
May 10, 2025
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Our next Young Patron event invites guests to learn to dance – 1920s style!
Member Guide-led Landscape Tour of The Elms
May 15, 2025
11:00am
Learn the history behind The Elms gardens and grounds with Jim Donahue, Curator of Historic Landscapes.
SOLD OUT
Tree Walk at Marble House
May 17, 2025
10:00am – 11:00am
Join Jeff Curtis, Director of Gardens & Landscapes, for a guided tour of the specimen trees on the Marble House grounds.
Girl Scout Badge Day at Green Animals
May 17, 2025
10:30am – 12:00pm
Daisies, Brownies, Juniors and Cadets will get a chance to explore Green Animals Topiary Garden and earn a badge by completing activities. Presented in partnership with the Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England.
Richard Morris Hunt:
In a New Light
May 30 – November 2, 2025
This exhibition examines the mind, ambition and legacy of America’s Dean of Architecture, who shaped Gilded Age America not only through the buildings he created – including The Breakers and Marble House – but also through his ideas.
The Newport Flower Show: “A Floral Fair”
June 20 – 22, 2025
Themed “A Floral Fair,” the 29th annual Show will combine the elegance of a Gilded Age fête with the good cheer of a summer county fair.
Annual Golf Outing
August 25, 2025
12:00pm
Grab your clubs for an unforgettable day on the greens at the Preservation Society’s Annual Golf Outing at Newport National Golf Club in Middletown, R.I., a challenging links-style course with views of the Atlantic Ocean and Sakonnet Passage.
Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival
September 19 – 21, 2025
Thank you to all of our sponsors, guests and volunteers for another successful Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival. See you next year for the 20th annual festival, September 19-21, 2025, at Rosecliff. Become a Preservation Society member and receive early access to purchase 2025 tickets before they become available to the general public.
