Peggy Guggenheim became known as one of the most influential people of the art world, building one of the greatest collections of modern art—326 paintings and sculptures, known as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. When she died in 1979, her collection was donated to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, where the public could view the collection six days a week. However, her collection has been the focus of a bitter legal battle between the Foundation and some of Peggy’s descendants, who claim that the collection has been continuously mismanaged. The Foundation claims that it has faithfully carried out Peggy’s wishes, which is good evidence that the collection should remain right where she left it. The art battle has resulted in four court decisions, all of which were against the descendants. The first suit against the Foundation was filed in a Paris district court in 1992 by three of Peggy’s grandchildren. Since then, three more suits have been filed, with the most recent in 2014, and a later appeal in 2015, when Peggy’s descendants asked the court to revoke the gift of the art collection on the grounds of a breach of conditions. Peggy’s descendants continue to fight and pursue her legacy.
See Milton Esterow, The Bitter Legal Battle over Peggy Guggenheim’s Blockbuster Art Collection, Vanity Fair, January 5, 2017.
Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
