Philip Rylands was born in
London, UK, in 1950. He graduated from King’s College, Cambridge, and in 1981 received a Ph.D. from Cambridge University for
his dissertation on the Venetian Renaissance painter Palma il Vecchio. In 2008 he was awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa by
the University of Art and Design, Cluj, Romania. His publications include Restoring Venice: The Church of the Madonna
dell’Orto (1976), Palma il Vecchio (1988; English edition, 1992), and Flying the Flag for Art: The United
States and the Venice Biennale 1895-1991 (1993). In 2003 he was co-editor with Laura Mattioli of the catalogue of the
The Gianni Mattioli Collection by Flavio Fergonzi. He edited, with Susan Davidson, Peggy Guggenheim and Frederick
Kiesler. The Story of Art of This Century (2004). He is Director of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (Italian
branch of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York), and has been responsible for the operations of the Collection since
1979. He lectures, writes reviews and scholarly articles, curates occasional exhibitions and contributes to exhibition catalogues.
