Guggenheim Heirs Lose Donor-Intent Case Over Venice Museum

A French court ruled Wednesday that the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation can display art as it sees fit in the Venice palace bequeathed to it by the late collector Peggy Guggenheim, denying an assertion by members of her family that it violated her intent for the site, reports The New York Times.

The Paris tribunal rejected claims by seven France-based descendents of Ms. Guggenheim that the foundation was bound to exhibit her collection of modernist masterworks as she had presented them in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni. The relatives sued to revoke the bequest after other works were put on show and the names of new donors inscribed alongside Ms. Guggenheim’s on a palazzo wall.

Christophe Perchet, a lawyer for the foundation, said the 16-page decision was “clear-cut” that there was “no misconduct on the part of the foundation.” The relatives vowed to appeal the ruling.