19
October 2026

Peggy Guggenheim - Saving Modern Art

The Arts Society Bowdon
Monday, October 19, 2026 - 13:45
The Bowdon Rooms
The Firs Bowdon WA14 2TQ
Online Event

How Peggy Guggenheim, in no small part saved the history of European modernism from Nazi hands.

Peggy Guggenheim - Saving Modern Art

In 1948 Peggy Guggenheim dazzled and dismayed visitors at the Venice Biennale with her own collection of modern art.  This lecture introduces her collecting practices and how she in no small part saved the history of European modernism from Nazi hands, and explores how her landmark curatorial practice laid the future foundations for contemporary art galleries and for the Venice Biennale.

THE ARTS SOCIETY ACCREDITED LECTURER

Ms Sarah Jaffray

Sarah is an art historian, educator, curator and writer based in London. 

Before her current position heading the art history programme at City Lit, Sarah worked as lead educator for the Bridget Riley Art Foundation in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum. She has also worked at Wellcome Collection exploring the connections of art, medicine and human experience. And, before relocating to London for family, she was as a tenured professor of Art History based in Los Angeles. 

Her MA in Art History focused on the links between poetry and painting in late 19th century France while her MA in Cultural Studies focused on photography and political protest. 

She lectures on a variety of topics and prefers to place artworks and objects in their wider social and cultural contexts, from the European Renaissance to the contemporary, emphasising new narratives and approaches to Western Art History. Her art historical research emphasises modern art, the politics and philosophies of the 19th and 20th centuries and how they are related to artistic process: drawing, printmaking, painting and photography.