David McDermott on Living in the Past: I Time Traveled Through Art - 246 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
A TRYST WITH TIME. David McDermott is an artist whose work has been exhibited internationally since the 1980s. In his experiments with time he emphatically insists on the beautiful and the miraculous, looking beyond the promises of techno-modernity and mirroring themes of 19th century artists’ rejection of the Industrial Revolution. “This old-fashioned concept of moving forward in time and abandoning the past, abandoning civilisation to move forward, it’s a very outdated concept.“ “Right now, my painting’s a rebellion against modern art.“ “I’m very interested in my...
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Hope, Friendship, and Faith: A Life of Service with Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe - 245 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
IN CONVERSATION WITH CARDINAL TIMOTHY RADCLIFFE : A LIFE OF HOPE AND HUMANITY. Timothy Radcliffe OP is an English priest who served as Master of the Order of Preachers from 1992 to 2001. He is the only friar of the Dominican Order's English Province to hold the office of Master-General. Created a Cardinal by Pope Francis in 2024, he took part in the recent Conclave to elect Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope. "What really sustains me all my life has been friendship.” "You meet people as a fellow seeker after meaning, because every human is really in the depths of their being a seeker.”...
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From Antiques to Albany: Lucy Moore on Christopher Gibbs - 244 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
THE CHRISTOPHER GIBBS AESTHETIC. Lucy Moore is an author and historian, well-known for her engaging biographies, including of the dancer Nijinsky, the politician and rake Lord Hervey, and three generations of Indian princesses in Maharanis. She wrote Anything Goes: A Biography of the Roaring Twenties and the widely acclaimed In Search of Us: Adventures in Anthropology. As Editor of the book Christopher Gibbs: His World she sought to create an enduring memorial to Christopher Gibbs, the renowned British antiques dealer, decorator, and quintessential English...
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Inside the Mind of a True Original: Why Rolf Sachs Refuses to Copy - 243 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
ALWAYS ON A ROLL. Rolf Sachs is an artist born in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1955 who works across a diverse range of media, from photography, painting, sculpture and installation, to interiors and set design. In 2018 he moved to Rome where he opened a new studio in 2020. From July 17, 2025 to October 25, 2025 the Kunsthalle Schweinfurt in Germany presents Rolf Sachs: be-rühren, his most comprehensive institutional exhibition to date. The title be-rühren is a wordplay on the German verb ‘to touch’, and captures Sachs's focus of a deeply empathetic and sensory...
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The Future of Travel with David Prior - 242 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
BUILDING EXPERIENCES FOR LIFE STORIES. David Prior is a travel writer, editor, and the founder of Prior, a travel and media company that curates immersive journeys and offers custom travel planning. He was formerly a contributing editor at Condé Nast Traveler and Vogue Living, and his work has appeared in various publications like T: The New York Times Style Magazine and WSJ. “Australia is the most visceral example of humans’ connection to the power of the land.” “PRIOR has a very global reach and attracts a certain type of person.” “If you want to be involved in...
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Sir John Chipman on the New Global Threats: We Are Not Ready for What’s Coming - 241 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
WORKING FOR GLOBAL SECURITY. Sir John Chipman KCMG is Executive Chairman of The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). As former Director-General and Chief Executive of the IISS he directed its growth globally as the world’s premier institute providing facts and analysis on international security issues. He developed the IISS role as a convener of vital inter-governmental summits, conceiving and establishing two regional security institutions under IISS auspices: in the Asia-Pacific the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue hosted by Singapore, and in the Middle East the...
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Piers Secunda Turns War Zones into Art - Here’s Why It Matters - 240 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
PORTRAYING THE DESTRUCTION OF CULTURE. Piers Secunda studied painting at Chelsea College of Art in London. Since the late nineties he has developed a studio practice using paint in a sculptural manner, rejecting the limitations imposed by the canvas. Piers’ work examines some of the most significant subjects of our time, such as the deliberate destruction of culture. “I make the work so that in the future people can learn from them” “Sometimes people come into art galleries and see my work and cry” “The bottom line is a level of awareness”
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Emily Greenhouse: Leading the New York Review of Books into a New Era - 239 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
STANDING FOR CLARITY AND COMPLEXITY. Emily Greenhouse has been the Editor of the prestigious New York Review of Books magazine since 2019. She is the first woman to be sole editor of the magazine, and when she was appointed was the youngest editor in its history. "What we publish is very accessible and very delightful" "We are a very jousty magazine." "It is our job to talk about complex things and allow them to be complex"
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Luc Tuymans on the Problem with Today’s Art World - 238 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
A LINEAGE OF THE REAL AND THE AUTHENTIC. Luc Tuymans is a Belgian visual artist, many of whose paintings explore people’s relationship with history and confront their ability to ignore it. World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust is a recurring theme in his many faceted work. Tuymans is a key figure of the generation of European figurative painters who gained renown at a time when many believed the medium had lost its relevance due to the new digital age. “I want the feeling of doing something special” “For young artists now, it is very strenuous and very difficult”...
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Inside Italy’s Most Romantic Hotels with Marie-Louise Sciò - 237 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
CURATING THE VERY DIFFERENT IDENTITIES OF THE PELLICANO HOTELS GROUP. Marie-Louise Sciò is CEO of the Pellicano Hotels group in Italy, which today comprises Hotel Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole in Tuscany, La Posta Vecchia Hotel near Rome, and Mezzatorre Hotel & Thermal Spa in Ischia. The youngest child of hotelier Roberto Sciò, Marie-Louise studied design and architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design in the USA and then worked in interior design beside Massimo Zompa in her native city of Rome before returning to her first love, Hotel Il Pellicano, her father’s establishment...
info_outlineART, SUSTAINABILITY & FUNDRAISING. Victoria Siddall is a non-executive Director of Frieze, a co-founder and trustee of Gallery Climate Coalition, and the Founding Director of Murmur, a new initiative that enables the worlds of visual arts and music to play their part in combatting the climate crisis. A strategic advisor to museums and businesses on art, sustainability and fundraising, Siddall is Chair of the board of trustees of Studio Voltaire, Cultural Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery and a trustee of the Ampersand Foundation UK.
“Frieze Masters was the first fair that I launched and ran as Director.”
“The aim is to unite the art and music industries and channel funds into the most impactful climate initiatives.”
“Artists are really at the heart of the whole art ecosystem, so the investment there is critical.”