The life and achievements of Jennifer Montagu, a leading British art historian known for her work on Italian Baroque sculpture - 277 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Release Date: 03/15/2026
Philip Delves Broughton: The Oil Crisis That Changed the World And Why It Matters Today - 310 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
THE POWER OF OIL. Philip Delves Broughton is a British author, journalist and former foreign correspondent whose writing explores the worlds of business, leadership, ambition and human behaviour. Educated in Classics at Oxford University, he spent a decade at The Daily Telegraph, serving as its Paris and New York correspondent. He went on to write the international bestseller Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School, an insightful and often humorous account of his experience studying for an MBA at Harvard. His other books include The Art of the Sale, which examines the...
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Franco Noero: On Art, Artists and the Future of Galleries - 309 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
THE GALLERY IS A PALESTRA WHERE AN ARTIST CAN EXPRESS HIS POETRY. Franco Noero is an influential Italian contemporary art gallerist. Born in Cuneo, he is founder of Galleria Franco Noero in Turin, and board member of ITALICS art consortium uniting over 70 of Italy’s leading ancient, modern, and contemporary art galleries. He opened his baseline gallery in March 1999, focusing heavily on conceptual practices and radical artistic research. “From the beginning, I wanted the gallery to do more than simply represent artists. We wanted to produce exhibitions and works, and to accompany artists...
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Johnny de Falbe: Why Independent Bookshops Still Matter - 308 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
THE ART OF BOOKSELLING. Johnny de Falbe runs John Sandoe Books, the independent bookshop near London’s Sloane Square, together with his wife Arabella von Friesen and their staff. He has worked there since 1989. The small Chelsea shop stocks around 30,000 books and is one of London’s best-loved independent booksellers. “It matters to me that we have clients in America, Italy and all over the world. I want us to feel international.” “Above all, one wants human-to-human contact. The relationship with an independent shop goes beyond the simply transactional.” “Bookselling is very...
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Marco Antonio "Toni" Servillo on Acting, Cinema and the Power of Theatre - 307 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
MASTER OF THE CRAFT OF ACTING. Marco Antonio Servillo was born in Afragola, Italy, in 1959. He built a rich theatrical foundation by founding the Teatro Studio in 1977 and co-founding the influential company Teatri Uniti in 1987. He achieved international film renown through his frequent collaborations with director Paolo Sorrentino, delivering unforgettable lead performances as real-life political figures in Il Divo and Loro, as well as starring in the Academy Award-winning The Great Beauty (La grande bellezza). Widely celebrated for his commanding voice, expressive range, and striking...
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Amos Gitai on Art, War and the Power of Ideas - 306 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
Amos Gitai, the acclaimed 75-year-old Israeli architect-turned-filmmaker known for his politically charged and deeply reflective documentaries, premiered his latest work, The Road to Jericho, out of competition at the 2026 International Venice Film Festival. The 75-minute film chronicles the struggle of a Bedouin community in the occupied West Bank village of Khan al-Ahmar, weaving together 40 years of archival footage with contemporary reflections. True to his signature style, Gitai presents the documentary as a “civic gesture” aimed at preserving collective memory and challenging...
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Inside New York's Most Beloved Museum: Axel Rüger on the New Era of The Frick - 271 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
THE REGENERATION OF THE FRICK. Axel Rüger is a German art historian, curator and museum director. Director of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam from 2006 to 2019, he previously worked as a curator of Dutch art at the National Gallery in London. He led the Royal Academy of Arts in London from 2019 through 2024, and in March 2025 assumed the directorship of The Frick Collection in New York City. "You get a sense of how the Fricks lived at the time, even though we do not really talk much about their daily life." "For the first time, the Frick now also has a café and a dedicated space for...
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Paddy McKillen - 14 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
REINVENTING LONDON'S LEGENDARY LUXURY HOSPITALITY. International entrepreneur Paddy McKillen has a passion for the hospitality business and property development. In 2004 he was part of a group that bought four of London's 5-star hotels: Claridge's, The Berkeley, The Connaught and The Savoy.
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“Identity Is Something You Choose” - Simone Fattal on Art, Exile, and Belonging - 266 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
MANIFESTATIONS OF THE VOYAGE. Simone Fattal is a Lebanese-American artist. Born in 1942 in Damascus, she was educated in Beirut and Paris, studying philosophy at the École des Lettres and the Sorbonne, as well as archaeology at the École du Louvre. Simone Fattal and Etel Adnan (1925–2021) were life partners for 49 years, artists who shared a profound creative, political, and personal connection. Their multidisciplinary work spans painting, sculpture, poetry, and publishing. "We have to ask the women prisoners to write the poems. Which they did, and I transcribed them on the surfaces of the...
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Aimone di Savoia-Aosta: Russia, Italy and a Life Between Two Worlds - 300 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
A LIFE OF HONOR. Aimone di Savoia Aosta, 6th Duke of Aosta, was born in Florence in 1967. After studying at the Naval College in Venice and beginning his professional life in London, he moved to Russia in the early 1990s. He later joined the Pirelli Group and more recently returned to Italy after many years abroad. He has also served as Ambassador of the Order of Malta to Russia. "Italian History does not begin in 1946, but March the 17th 1861, in Turin! " "The title of Duke of Puglia was given to me by Umberto II and this grant was part of the tradition of the House of Savoy" "I believe...
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Alejandro Aravena - 124 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
BUILDING TOWARDS EQUALITY. Alejandro Aravena is a Chilean architect and executive director of the firm Elemental S.A. In 2016 he won the Pritzker Architecture Prize, architecture's highest honour, and was the director and curator of the Architecture Section of the 2016 Venice Biennale. From 2000 to 2005 he was a visiting professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design. An International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, he was appointed Chair of the Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury as of March 2021.
info_outlinePIONEER OF BAROQUE SCULPTURE. Jennifer Montagu LVO CBE is a highly regarded British art historian whose emphasis is in the study of Italian Baroque sculpture. A daughter of Ewen Montagu, a British lawyer, writer and Naval intelligence officer, and granddaughter of painter Solomon J. Solomon RA, she studied under Sir Ernst Gombrich at the Warburg Institute, London where she received her PhD degree. Montagu lectured in History of Art at Reading University 1958–64, then was assistant Curator 1964–71, and Curator 1971–91, of the Photographic Collection at the Warburg Institute. She was Slade Professor of Fine Art and fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge 1980–81, Andrew W. Mellon Lecturer at the National Gallery of Art, Washington in 1991, and Invited Professor at the College de France, Paris in 1994. She was a trustee of the Wallace Collection 1989–2001 and of the British Museum 1994–2001. In 1990 Montagu delivered the annual A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts at the National Gallery of Art. She is an honorary fellow of her alma mater, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and of the Warburg Institute. She has been honoured in France as a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur and a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in Italy as an Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. Her books are Bronzes 1963, Alessandro Algardi 1985, Roman Baroque Sculpture – The Industry of Art 1989, The Expression of the Passions 1994, and Gold, Silver and Bronze: Metal Sculpture of the Roman Baroque 1996. Her latest book, on the sculptor Giovanni Battista Maini, was published in 2025.
"I was brought up being rather anti-Baroque; and then I got interested in Le Brun and the 17th century."
"The basic problem, of course, is who painted it and why and when, but there are all sorts of other more interesting questions you can ask about it."
"Sometimes there's a connection, something about the painting which grabs you. The hairs on the back of your neck rise up, as they say, and there isn't any particular explanation."