Venice Guggenheim gets large art gift

VENICE, Italy, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A major collection of port-war European and American art has been given to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy.

The art was collected by Guggenheim trustee the late Rudolph B. Schulhof and his widow, Hannelore.

Thoms Krens, director of the Guggenheim in New York, parent to the Venice museum, said Mrs. Schulhof would keep the collection intact until her death. After that it will be housed in the Venice palazzo on the Grand Canal that was formerly Peggy Guggenheim's home. Mrs. Schulhof was quoted as saying "Venice is where the collection belongs; it would be lost in New York."

Mrs. Schulhof and her husband knew Peggy Guggenheim and had viewed her collection when in Venice attending one of the city's biennial art shows. They maintained a close association with the Guggenheim Museum since the 1970s, and Schulhof was a trustee until his death in 1999.

Krens said the gift will greatly expand the Venice museum's depth. It includes works by Cy Twombly, Ellsworth Kelly, Mark Rothko, and Jasper Johns and includes paintings, drawings and sculptures.