Jean Arp Exhibition at Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice presents "La natura di Arp," an exhibition dedicated to Jean Arp (Strasbourg, 1886‒Basel, 1966), opening April 13. The show is organized in collaboration with the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, which has a historic link to the Venetian museum: in 1995, the palace garden was named Nasher Sculpture Garden thanks to the center's support. The exhibition explores the collecting passions of Peggy Guggenheim and Patsy Nasher. Guggenheim's first acquisition was Arp's "Tête et coquille" (1933); in 1967, Patsy Nasher bought "Torso con germogli" (1961) for her husband Raymond, which became the core of their collection. Over 70 works are on display—sculptures in plaster, stone, bronze, and wood, plus drawings, collages, textiles, and illustrated books—seven from the Venetian museum and others loaned from international institutions and private collections. The exhibition recalls shows where Peggy exhibited Arp's works at her London gallery Guggenheim Jeune and at Art of This Century in New York, as well as Arp's stays in Venice, where he won the Grand Prize for Sculpture at the 1954 Venice Biennale.