Taking Venice – Watch the trailer for the documentary about the 1964 Venice Biennale controversy

Transporting Robert Rauschenberg’s Express at the XXXII International Biennale of Art Exhibition, Venice, 1964. Photo by Ugo Mulas.

Zeitgeist Films in association with Kino Lorber has released the U.S. theatrical release of TAKING VENICE, a documentary film by Amei Wallach (Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, The Mistress and The Tangerine).

TAKING VENICE uncovers the true story behind rumours that the 1964 Venice Biennale was rigged – by the U.S. Government and a team of highly placed insiders – so that their chosen artist, Robert Rauschenberg, could win the grand prize.

At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. government is determined to fight Communism with culture. The Venice Biennale, the world’s most influential art exhibition, becomes a proving ground in 1964. Alice Denney, Washington insider and friend of the Kennedys, recommends Alan Solomon, an ambitious curator making waves with trailblazing art, to organize the U.S. entry. Together with Leo Castelli, a powerful New York art dealer, they embark on a daring plan to make Robert Rauschenberg the winner of the Grand Prize. Although he had the potential to dazzle, Robert Rauschenberg was yet to be taken seriously by the art world in the early 1960s. His groundbreaking work known as “combines” merged painting and sculpture with found objects and pop culture images in new ways that had not been seen before. Deftly pulling off maneuvers that could have come from a Hollywood thriller, the American team leaves the international press crying foul, and Rauschenberg questioning the politics of nationalism that sent him there.

TAKING VENICE received critical acclaim at the 2023 Rome International Film Festival, Sao Paulo International Film Festival, DOC NYC, and Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. The documentary film from Amei Wallach will open at the IFC Center in NYC on May 17th and at the Laemmle Royal in LA on May 24th. Other cities will follow.