Scots in Venice
By Natascha Watt
This summer I took part in the International Internship Programme at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, where I came across the work of Scottish artist Alan Davie. As it transpired, Davie was not the only Scottish artist in the Collection. Indeed, Peggy Guggenheim also collected works by Eduardo Paolozzi and Alexander Calder, whose grandfather was Scottish.
A view of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection from the garden.
Image courtesy of the author.
Born in 1898 in New York, Guggenheim lived most of her adult life in Europe, spending the last thirty years of her life in Venice in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni. Having spent time in Paris and London in the 1920s and 1930s, she was forced to return to New York as a result of the outbreak of the Second World War, given that she was Jewish.
Peggy Guggenheim with Alexander Calder’s mobile Arc of Petals (1941) in the Greek Pavilion at the 1948 Venice Biennale.
Image courtesy of the Guggenheim Museums and Foundation.
Moving back to Europe soon after the end of World War Two, she showed her collection (which she had amassed in Paris and London, and later New York) at the 1948 Venice Biennale in the Greek Pavilion – the country was unable to participate as a result of its ongoing civil war. This marked the first time such a comprehensive survey of Modern art was shown in Italy after the collapse of the Fascist regime, as well as the first exhibition of the American Abstract Expressionists in Europe.
That same year Alan Davie met Peggy Guggenheim. Having graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1940, he undertook a ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe in 1948. Stopping in Venice, he visited the Biennale and discovered Peggy Guggenheim’s collection. That year he also showed some of his works at Galleria Sandri in Venice, catching the attention of Guggenheim, who subsequently purchased his painting Music of the Autumn Landscape (1948). She encouraged him to seek out a well-regarded gallery, resulting in the first of many solo exhibitions at Gimpel Fils, London in 1950. It was also through Guggenheim that Davie met key artists from New York’s vibrant artistic scene, such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning during his visit to the Big Apple in 1956. Following a solo show at Catherine Viviano Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art acquired his piece Magic Box (1955).
Moreover, during the 1970s Davie often gave concerts to accompany his exhibitions, even releasing numerous recordings. This stemmed from his interest in music. In fact, Davie was himself a musician and had spent a short time working in a jazz orchestra as a saxophonist in 1948. His love for music manifested on his canvases through his consideration of intuition and improvisation. Additionally, he was very much inspired by the art movements of his time such as Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism, as well as the CoBrA group artists, all of whom have works displayed alongside Davie’s at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. As Guggenheim had been so supportive of him, Davie named one of his most important works (which she purchased) after her: Peggy’s Guessing Box (1950).
Alexander Calder, Silver Headbead, 1943, Silver, 160 x 131 cm. Detail with Peggy Guggenheim’s initials.
Image courtesy of the author.
As noted, Davie is not the only Scottish artist in the Collection. Indeed, Peggy Guggenheim also acquired Eduardo Paolozzi’s sculpture Chinese Dog 2 (1958) and several of Alexander Calder’s pieces, even commissioning him to make her a headboard. Calder himself was American, but his grandfather had been Scottish, emigrating to the U.S.A. in 1868.
It was a wonderful surprise to discover Alan Davie and admire The Golden Drummer Boy No. 2 (1962) that was on show during my time in Venice. Davie has enjoyed both national and international retrospectives at institutions like Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. He passed away in 2014.
Interested readers may browse further at this link, which will take them to an image of Davie’s The Golden Drummer Boy No. 2: https://www.guggenheim-venice.it/en/art/works/the-golden-drummer-boy-no-2/
Bibliography
Dovecot Studios. “Alan Davie.” Accessed September 24, 2025. https://dovecotstudios.com/tapestry-studio/artists-weavers-tufters/alan-davie
Hare, Bill. “Scottish Modernism in Venice.” Accessed September 24, 2025. Fleming Collection. https://www.flemingcollection.com/scottish_art_news/news-press/Scottish-Modernism-in-Venice.
Peggy Guggenheim Collection. “About Peggy.” Accessed September 24, 2025. https://www.guggenheim-venice.it/en/art/in-depth/peggy-guggenheim/about-peggy/
Peggy Guggenheim Collection. “Alan Davie.” Accessed September 24, 2025. https://www.guggenheim-venice.it/en/art/artists/alan-davie/.
The Historical Marker Database. “Alexander Milne Calder: Sculptor 1846-1923.” Accessed September 23, 2025. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=214760