Exhibition at Boston South End - Willey

Guggenheim’s sketches from Vietnam shine at the Willey

( Boston, 2008)

by Bessie King

MySouthEnd.com Contributor

Wednesday Dec 17, 2008

Wearing a light blue suit and a gold tie with panda bears printed on it, 84-year-old Hans Guggenheim chatted to visitors as they admired his drawings at the Michelle Willey Boutique on Dec. 11. Guggenheim was showcasing etchings from his latest trip to Vietnam, images that showed everything from the food he ate to the places he saw and the psychedelic images his imagination made him draw. 

With delicacy and simplicity the drawings expose detail and passion. It is easy to stare at one drawing, analyze individual pieces, and then assemble them together and enjoy the complete look. Whether it is of an angel with lobster wings, a scene from a forest, or Guggenheim’s head in wheels-a self-description of the artist cruising through Vietnam’s airport in a wheelchair. 

For those present, speaking to the artist only heightened the experience. Guggenheim, a noted artist, scholar, philanthropist, and world-traveler who taught Anthropology at MIT and Harvard, spoke about his pieces but also about his passion for art, philanthropy, and living life.

"I enjoy doing what I do, I feel that in art you can truly say what you can’t express with words and everyone can understand art even if they do not speak the same language," he said. "I think I am very lucky to be able to have art in my life and make a difference with it."

His trip to Vietnam was a mission for his arts charity, Project Guggenheim, an international non-profit funded in1997 that provides training in traditional arts and contemporary skills for young artists and artisans in remote areas of the world. Through it he establishes schools, donates art, and tries to make a difference in countries that lack exposure to art or funding.

He helped Vietnam, a country torn by political unrest, by donating over 30 original Francisco de Goya sketches dealing with the subject of war. Not only poignant, his donation is also impressive. Goya’s drawings are rare, specifically those dealing with the time period in which the Spanish artist commemorated Spain’s resistance to Napoleon’s armies during the occupation of 1808. Guggenheim made the donation form his personal collection.