with Philip Rylands, Ph.D.
Founded in 1895 in the Napoleonic public gardens of the lagoon city, the Venice Biennale is the oldest, and today most prestigious, modern and contemporary art event of its kind in the world. From its early years as an International Salon-style event, to the years between the World Wars in which it coped with the nationalist forces of Italian Fascism, to the postwar period when it established itself as a crucible and compass of of contemporary art, the Biennale offers a review, through its own lens, of the story of modern art.
Philip Rylands is an art historian who for more than 37 years was responsible for the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. In 1986, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation purchased the U.S. Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, which has been operated by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection with the U.S. Department of State since 1985. Dr. Rylands is President of the Society of the Four Arts.