As part of Venice Heritage Museum’s Fundraising efforts, they are auctioning off a true (and heavy!) piece of Venice history: An Original Cast Iron Capital Head for Venice designed by Felix Peano for Abbot Kinney’s Venice-of-America, c. 1905.
This item is made available for auction thanks to the generous support of The von Hoffmann Family 💙🌴✌️
About VHM: We preserve, nurture, and celebrate stories of Venice’s diverse cultural heritage + history. The first-ever museum for Venice, CA.
About th Original Cast Iron Venice Capital Head: Felix Achilles Peano (1863–1948) was a celebrated artist from Turin, Italy, chosen by Abbot Kinney to help design key elements of his Venice-of-America. In addition to over a dozen canal bridges, Peano designed architectural ornamentation inspired by Venice, Italy, for the buildings lining Windward Avenue, often utilizing the classic winged Lion of St. Mark.
While the capital faces in Venice, Italy’s Piazza San Marco represent traditional virtues (Faith, Hope, Charity, etc.) Peano created distinctly new images for Kinney’s colonnades.
The Bouck Family already had a beach home in what was then called South Ocean Park. Situated at the southwest end of what would become Windward Avenue, the Boucks watched from their doorstep as Venice was being built, befriending the Kinneys and Peano along the way. Peano was so taken with the beautiful features of daughter Nettie Bouck that he designed one of the capital heads after her. It’s highly likely this capital head is of that design.
The serenity of this historic casting shines through the glorious rust patina, making this 120 year-old artifact the most stunning conversation starting complement to any home in Venice, CA.
This original capital head was in the collection of a building contractor who oversaw some of the demolition enforced by the City of L.A. in the early 1960s for structures failing earthquake retrofit requirements. It is believed to have come from the famous Gas House building, hangout of Big Daddy Nord and the Beat Generation artists & poets.
*A stipulation of the sale is the capital head must remain in Venice, CA.
Visit https://www.32auctions.com/SupportVHM to bid!
