The museum of Modern Art in Venice is hosted in the Baroque palace of Ca’ Pesaro, designed by Baldassarre Longhena for the prestigious and powerful aristocratic Pesaro family.

The palace was bequeathed to the city by the countess Felicita Bevilacqua La Masa in 1898. The only condition for the bequest was that it would host the works of contemporary young artists, refused by the traditional art network such as the Biennale. The collection displayed then allows us to understand the enthusiasm and the liveliness of avant-garde young artists in Venice before fascism took over.

The collection originated in 1902, a few years after the first group of works owned by Prince Giovanelli was bought at the Biennale Contemporary Art exhibition. It became richer and richer as time went on, featuring masterpieces by Gustav Klimt, Marc Chagall, Paul Klee and Vassily Kandinsky.