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Venice: The Artistic Spirit of Jackson Pollack and Peggy GuggenheimBy Larry Bridwell
If you go: Hotel Bauer Just past track 1 at the Santa Lucia station is a ramp down which you can wheel out your luggage; there are no signposts to it, and we saw people bumping their bags down the many stairs at the front of the station. When you return to the station, the ramp will be on the right of the building. Vaporettos and water taxis stop just outside the station. by Lucy Komisar |
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Jackson Pollack, the great pioneer of abstract
expressionism, was a struggling carpenter until the avant-garde Peggy Guggenheim
discovered him and made his paintings famous. Following her death in 1979, her
Grand Canal palazzo became a museum, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Her
personal selection of 20th-Century abstract and surreal art can be viewed only
in Venice, because her will stipulated that the collection can never be shown
outside the museum.
In the sculpture garden after noon church bells, a docent
gives a brilliant lecture about Guggenheim's life and places the museum in the
context of her fascinating experiences in New York, London, Paris and Venice.
Visitors learn that when she was only eleven, her father died on the Titanic
after helping other passengers survive. She carried on the family tradition of
bravery during World War II in France, when she helped many artists escape from
the Nazis. Her collection also has an intimate dimension: several paintings are
by her lovers, including Pollack.
One of the most controversial areas of art is abstract
expressionism, because paintings of this style often lack traditional
representations of people or settings. A common, cynical perception is that the
artist is a child engaged in helter-skelter finger-painting. But in the Peggy
Guggenheim Collection, five Pollack paintings offer an unusual insight into the
subconscious expression of abstract art. “The Moon Woman” is a colorful and
multifaceted depiction of female spirituality, probably reflecting the Native
American heritage of Pollack's Wyoming birthplace. This emphasis on nature may
have also inspired the other paintings, beginning with “Bird Effort” and its
bright depiction of flight. “Enchanted Forest” is a vivid representation of
trees, and “Eyes in the Heat” conveys restless eye movements. Finally,
“Alchemy” appears to be a mixture of chemicals. In a single intimate room, the
mystery of abstract expressionism becomes understandable, because one can see
the similarities and differences among five paintings, as suggested by their
titles.
A short walk from the museum, slightly off the tourist
path, is the rustic Ristorante San Trovaso. It attracts local Venetians,
including the gondoliers who sat next to us during their work break. The beef
lasagna appetizer was a sensual blend of thick pasta, seasoned beef, and fresh
Parmesan cheese. The main course was an attractive mixture of grilled fish.
Sightseeing, lunch and wine had caused some drowsiness, but the house dessert of
lemon ice with a vodka twist provided a pleasant wake-up kick.
That evening, the spirit of Pollack and Guggenheim was
manifest at the splendid Bauer Hotel. Its President, Francesca Bortolotto
Possati, has infused this Grand Canal hotel with her own sense of Italian
style. Many of the ingredients for the restaurant come from her farm, and the
cuisine is fresh and distinctive. We had wine from her vineyard with exquisite
hors d'oeuvres. Five delicious works of edible Italian art were arranged in
pairs, and presented in colorful display, perhaps inspired by the Pollack
paintings across the canal.
