Out of This Century: Confessions of an Art Addict

I bought this book at the Peggy Guggenheim museum in Venice last week, having been captivated by her gallery and her sense of presence. Her name-dropping infuriated me in the first instance, but then I became addicted to her exploits. Peggy helped me cope with tourists in San Marco, a heatwave in Rome, delays at Fiumicino and a long trip home to Australia. She is no intellectual giant, but she spins a great yarn! I wish I had been able to live her life...but I can, vicariously, through her autobiography. Sloppy editing by the publisher detracts.

Undoubtedly, Miss Guggenheim led a colourful and interesting life. She had either great artistic insight and intigrity or a bratish desire to boost of her wealth. I didn't reach a conclusion having read this book, but then maybe she was doing a bit of both and wanted to keep us guessing? I found the book enormously entertaining and informative if a little disrespectful of it's subject. One cannot help but to consider that this disrespect and the virtual anonymous space she occupies in history, might be very different had she been Peter and not Peggy. A great read for modern art lovers, a fairly good one for anyone else. Though it cannot be helped nor altered, it is a book very heavy on characters, plot, and at times, weighty information; which can be very offputting and confusing.

This woman is one in a Million. Period. She had sex with Max Ernst & Marcel Duchamp & who knows how many others? Where is her like in todays world?! This book is an uncensored look into modern art in the mid-century, & before. Peggy Guggenheim is a national treasure, & her life should be celebrated, postal employees let off, the whole nine yards...

Here's the story of a woman that knew them all, felt the earth move under her feet with many of them, and bought their art for pretty much nothing. She recognized them when they were starting, and this makes her a Princess. This book is her equivalent to Gore Vidal's "Palimpsest" and Lillian Hellman's "Pentimento". This is one of those books that almost transports you to a long gone era, and makes you wish you could have been there to see it all.

This is a book you do not want to finish, you constantly wish that as you progress in your reading as the book will unfold in more pages. It does not happen. What a life story, full of art and style. What a charming book, simple and direct. Easy to read but so full of references to the Art of this Century. Peggy lived and tell the life of a brilliant collector not only of art pieces but of emotions and feelings. To me this is one of the best books of the year. It goes on top of DV by Diana Vreeland on my nightstand.