Elective Affinities

Modern artists frolic among Old Masters as Heinz Berggruen’s collection travels to Venice

German art dealer Heinz Berggruen (1914–2007) began collecting art while running a gallery in Paris in the 1950s, building one of the most important private collections in the world, located in Berlin. Berggruen sought to give his collection a distinctive character, focusing on the works of four of his most admired contemporaries: Picasso, Klee, Matisse and Giacometti. As part of the closure of the Berlin museum for restoration, the most important works in the collection will be in Venice, in an exhibition that aims to construct a dialogue through contrast or similarity between ancient masters and modern art, through the fertile exchange between the collections of the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, the Museum Berggruen in Berlin and the Casa dei Tre Oci.