Ca' Pésaro
The Modern Art Gallery in Venice's Ca' Pesaro.
Venice's Ca' Pésaro and two collections: Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna (Gallery of Modern Art) and Museo d'Arte Orientale (Asian Art Museum)
The Ca' Pesaro on Venice's
Grand Canal, designed in the late 17th century by Baldassare Longhena and completed in 1682 by Antionio Gaspari. (Photo by David Nicholls)
Sometimes the effort of appreciating all that Gothic, Renaissance, and baroque art can just wear you down.
Yes, the ponderous Ca' Pésaro—squatting on the Grand Canal across and just up from the more elegant Ca' D'Oro, and designed in the middle of the 17th century by Baldassare Longhena (same guy who built the Ca' Rezzonico and Santa Maria della Salute church)—still provides a generous helping of late Renaissance/early baroque architecture.
However, the two modest museums it contains are a breath of fresh air, representing art that is hundreds of years (and/or thousands of miles) away from the same old-same old Old Masters.
Museum of Modern Art
White Zig Zag (Zig Zag Bianchi) by Wassily Kadinsky (1922). (Photo courtesy of the Museo d'Arte Moderna di Venezia à Ca' Pesaro)
The main floor contains Venice's municipal
Museo d'Arte Moderna—the spoils of hosting the
Biennale, Venice's grand bi-yearly contemporary art show, from which the city has slowly purchased much of this collection over the years.
The result is a gallery of international masters such as Chagall, Matisse, Kadinsky, Klee, Klimt, Morandi, Henry Moore, and De Chirico.
Frankly, the collection at the Peggy Guggenheim in town is better (if you're going to see just one gallery of modern art, make it that one), but these works are fine, and if you already have a Museum Pass, you get in for free anyway.
The Museum of Asian Art
A room in the Asian Art Museum of the Ca' Pesaro. (Photo by Russavia)
Upstairs is the Ca' Pésaro's second museum, this one devoted to the
Museo d'Arte Orentale, a hodgepodge of Asian and artifacts (
www.arteorientale.org)—armor, weapons, lacquered boxes, musical instruments, bronzes, etc.
It's heavy on the Japanese (look for Hokusai, Koryusai, and Harunobu), but there's also some stuff from China, Siam (ancient Thailand), and Java (Indonesia). Be on the lookout for a precious Khmer Buddha from 12th century Cambodia.
The collection is all the more remarkable for being formerly the private stash of Prince Henry of Bourbon Parma, who brought it back from the Orient toward the end of the 19th century and left it to Italy in his will.
(Note: There have been long-term plans to move the Asian art collection to the Palazzo Marcello, across the Grand Canal, but just when that might happen is anybody's guess. They've been talking about it for years.)
Tips & links
Details & tours
Ca' Pésaro
Fondamenta della Pergola 2076, Santa Croce
Vaporetto: San Stae (turn left in front of the church, cross the bridge, turn right, then take your first left, cross another bridge and you're there)
tel. +39-041-721-127
www.visitmuve.it
Open Tues-Sun 10am–5pm (to 5pm Nov–Mar)
Adm
With Museum Pass: free
How long does the Ca Pesaro take?
Planning your day: Unless you're seriously into modern and/or Oriental art, you can probably knock off both museums in 30–45 minutes or so.Venice itineraries
Museum Pass
The Ca' Pesaro is included on the Museum Pass cumulative ticket.
Don't book ahead
While advance reservations are possible for this museum, they really aren't necessary (the tourists crowds flock to St. Mark's and the Accademia not here), so save yourself the booking fee.
Nearby sights, dining, hotels
Venice links & resources
- Airport transfers: By land (to Piazzale Roma)
- Atvo.it (shuttle bus: €6)
- Actv.it (city bus: €6)
- Venice rail station
- Venezia Santa Lucia: Grandistazioni.it, Fondamenta S. Lucia (in the NW corner of the city)
- Vaproetto to San Marco: 1, 2, N
- Driving/parking
- Asmvenezia.it (Piazzale Rome garage: most central, €23–29; S. Giuliano lot: farthest, €12)
- Veniceparking.it (Tronchetto garage: fairly central, €21)
- Car resources
- Emergency service/tow: tel. 803-116
- Highway agency: Autostrade.it (traffic info, serivce areas, toll calculator, weather)
- Italian automotive club (~AAA): Aci.it
- ZTLs: Ztl-italia.blogspot.com (lightly outdated, but handy, links to cities' traffic-free zones)
Walks & Day tours
Longer tours
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