Editing Peggy Guggenheim Collection (section)

==Building and Venice Biennale==
The collection is housed in the [[Palazzo Venier dei Leoni]], which Peggy Guggenheim purchased in 1949.<ref name=Priceless/> Although sometimes mistaken for a modern building,<ref>Lauritzen and Zielcke, p. 229</ref> it is an 18th-century palace designed by the Venetian architect {{ill|Lorenzo Boschetti|it}}.<ref name=vail>Vail, p. 77</ref> The building was unfinished, and has an unusually low elevation on the Grand Canal. The museum's website describes it thus:

{{quote|Palazzo Venier dei Leoni's long low façade, made of Istrian stone and set off against the trees in the garden behind that soften its lines, forms a welcome "caesura" in the stately march of Grand Canal palaces from the [[Gallerie dell'Accademia|Accademia]] to the [[Santa Maria della Salute|Salute]].<ref name=palace/>|}}

The palazzo was Peggy Guggenheim's home for thirty years.<ref name=vail/> In 1951, the palazzo, its garden, now called the Nasher Sculpture Garden, and her art collection were opened to the public from April to October for viewing.<ref>Vail, p. 92</ref> Her collection at the palazzo remained open during the summers until her death in [[Camposampiero]], northern Italy, in 1979; she had donated the palazzo and the 300-piece collection to the [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation]] in 1976.<ref name=Priceless/><ref>Messer (Nicolini introduction), p. 5</ref> The foundation, then under the direction of Peter Lawson-Johnston, took control of the palazzo and the collection in 1979<ref>Tacou-Rumney, p. 171</ref> and re-opened the collection there in April 1980 as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

After the Foundation took control of the building in 1979, it took steps to expand gallery space; by 1985, "all of the rooms on the main floor had been converted into galleries ... the white [[Istria]]n stone facade and the unique canal terrace had been restored" and a protruding arcade wing, called the barchessa, had been rebuilt by architect Giorgio Bellavitis.<ref name=VeniceArch>{{cite web| url= http://www.guggenheim.org/guggenheim-foundation/architecture/venice |title= Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice| publisher= [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation]]| website= guggenheim.org| accessdate= April 3, 2012}}</ref> Since 1985, the museum has been open year-round.<ref name=palace>{{cite web| url= http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/inglese/museum/palazzo.html |title= The Palace| website= guggenheim-venice.it |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110716081310/http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/inglese/museum/palazzo.html |archivedate=2011-07-16 | publisher= Peggy Guggenheim Collection| accessdate= 10 March 2012}}</ref> In 1993, apartments adjacent to the museum were converted to a garden annex, a shop and more galleries.<ref name=VeniceArch/> In 1995, the Nasher Sculpture Garden was completed, additional exhibition rooms were added, and a café was opened.<ref name=VeniceArch/> A few years later, in 1999 and in 2000, the two neighboring properties were acquired.<ref name=VeniceArch/> In 2003, a new entrance and booking office opened to cope with the increasing number of visitors, which reached 350,000 in 2007.<ref>Decker, pp. 139–140</ref> Since 1993, the museum has doubled in size, from 2,000 to 4,000 square meters.<ref name=Priceless/>

Since 1985, the United States has selected the foundation to operate the U.S. Pavilion of the [[Venice Biennale]], an exhibition held every other summer. In 1986, the foundation purchased the Palladian-style pavilion, built in 1930.<ref name=Priceless/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/inglese/pavilion/index.php |title=US Pavilion |work= guggenheim-venice.it |publisher= Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation |access-date=October 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927212922/http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/inglese/pavilion/index.php |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>