As the granddaughter of Elsa Schiaparelli, Marisa grew up close to one of fashion’s true innovators—someone who blurred the lines between couture and art long before it became a conversation. We talk about Elsa not just as a cultural force, but as a grandmother: her wit, her discipline, and the world she created around her.

Marisa’s wider family story is equally rich, spanning figures such as art historian Bernard Berenson and astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. Discovered by Diana Vreeland as a teenager, she went on to become one of the defining faces of the 1970s, collaborating with an extraordinary roster of photographers including Avedon, Newton, Bailey, Penn, Bert Stern, Slim Aarons, Guy Bourdin and Cecil Beaton.

She also reflects on her film career, from Death in Venice to Barry Lyndon, and offers clear-eyed insights into navigating both the fashion and film worlds.

We return to Elsa in the context of the V&A exhibition—what it captures, what it leaves unsaid, and how her legacy continues to shape the way fashion and art intersect today.

#marisaberenson #schiaparelli #icon #fashion #art

Download, it's a masterpiece

Special thanks to @marisaberensonofficial @claridges

Produced by @martinlumsden

Music by @robinkatz_

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In the early 90's David co-founded The Carphone Warehouse and has since built a formidable art collection of predominantly British artists and established the David Ross Foundation. In 2000, David bought the spectacular 13th Century Nevill Holt Estate which now hosts the festival. In this episode we discuss his first art memory, what he was like as a child, the rules he sticks to in business, his collection, what he loves and laments about the art world, what the festival means to him and the wider cultural community, and much much more.

Download, it's a masterpiece.

To view this year's festival line up and book tickets, please go to www.nevillholtfestival.com

A special thanks to Jigsaw for sponsoring the episode, please view their latest spring collection at www.jigsaw-online.com.

Thanks to

@nevillholtfestival

@insidejigsaw

Produced by - @martinlumsden

Music by @robinkatz_

Portrait of David by Zoe Law

Host portrait by David Bailey

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Thanks to

@beatrizmilahzes

@whitecube

@martinlumsden

Beatriz Milhazes portrait © Beatriz Milhazes. Photo © Lucy Dawkins

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I recorded my first live episode at the House of Koko, with the painter and writer, HARLAND MILLER. A mesmerising raconteur with a Woody Allen-esque dellivery filled with subtle wit, Harland delivers his first art memory, what he was like as a child, how his art has evolved since he launched the Iconic Penguin Series to his latest exhibition of Letter Paintings, plus much, much more including his recurring dream about self help cinemas and his upcoming memoir, One Bar Electric .. also available on Youtube as a video so download and enjoy, it's a masterpiece.

Thank you to Harland, Clemence / House of Koko, Anjelica Mandy, White Cube and Katie Heller.

Produced by Martin Lumsden

Music by Robin Katz

Photo © White Cube

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Photo by Anh Duong

Produced by Martin Lumsden

Music by Robin Katz

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Thank you to Lord Michael for being a wonderfully entertaining guest!

Photo copyright owned by Michael Spencer

Produced by Martin Lumsden

Music by Robin Katz

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Download, it's filled with LIFE ADVICE and is an absolute MASTERPIECE.

Thank you to @therealdvf for being a true icon and fantastic guest.

Photo copyright owned by DVF

Produced by Martin Lumsden

Music by Robin Katz

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Download and play, it's an absolute masterpiece.

Cover photo by Alex Griffiths

Music by Robin Katz

Produced by Martin Lumsden

This episode is kindly sponsored by Oliver Bayliss of Bayliss Rare Books, the best rare book dealer in the business - www.baylissbooks.co.uk

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This episode is kindly supported by @waawworld

Cover photo by Harry Borden

Music by Robin Katz

Produced by Martin Lumsden

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With FRIEZE week coming up soon, and Surrealist female artists hitting big numbers at auction, I thought it would be the perfect time to release this episode with the amazing JULIE CURTISS. Since I saw first saw Julie's work at her solo at White Cube Mason's Yard in 2021, I was transfixed by her paintings which are filled with the uncanny, mundane, and grotesque shapes all painted in vivid colours. We discuss Julie's upbringing, her emotions when her paintings were flipped at auction achieving 10,000% return, what it's like being an artist working with White Cube, what are the emotional processes she goes through when making her work and some of my favourite paintings she's painted. Download, it's a masterpiece.

Thank you @whitecube for setting this up.

Credit line: © Julie Curtiss Photo © White Cube (Fabrice Gousset)

Music by @robinkatz_

Produced by Martin Lumsden

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I LOVED deep diving into PILAR ORDOVAS's mind, one of the leading gallerists of her generation. We discuss her early years, travelling to see art all over the world with her father, how she rose to the top of Christie's, (including winning a consignment as a junior against the then chairman of Sotheby's,) her deep relationship with Lucian Freud, why 'Benefits Supervisor Sleeping' sold for $33,000,000, her advice on staying at the top, what she looks for in a work of art and much, much more! Download, it's a MASTERPIECE.

Photo © Pilar Ordovas

Music by Robin Katz

Produced by Martin Lumsden

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Special thanks to White Cube for making this happen.

Photograph by Anna Gaskell

Music by Robin Katz

Produced by Martin Lumsden

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I’m delighted to be joined on this episode by Tim Marlow, currently CEO and Director of the Design Museum in London. Prior to this Tim was Artistic Director of the Royal Academy and Director of Exhibitions at White Cube. A highly respected curator, author and broadcaster, Tim has curated and overseen some game changing exhibitions working with the world’s most celebrated artists. In 2020, Tim was awarded an OBE for services to art. In this episode I deep dive into his mind and find out what makes a great exhibition, what the highs and challenges were working at White Cube, the Royal Academy and the Design Museum, which exhibitions and artists have made a profound impact on his life, and much much more. Enjoy!

Produced by Martin Lumsden

Music composed by Robin Katz.

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With Oscar season upon us, I sat down with Emmy and Grammy award winning film director Thom Zimny,for an art fuelled blockbuster episode.

With two shows currently on Netflix, "Springsteen on Broadway" and the moving and emotively brilliant 'Sly', Thom delivers an inspiring masterclass giving an invaluable insight into the thoughts, motives, artistic influences and advice on working as a film director. Having worked with Bruce Springsteen for 20 years and shot masterpieces on Elvis, Jonny Cash, Willie Nelson, Thom's latest blockbuster is a movingly shot documentary on Sylvester Stallone which unpacks a lot on the Hollywood mega star.

Opening with a deeply inspiring first art memory, the answer sets the tone for a brilliant art fuelled conversation throughout.

Download, it's Oscar worthy.

Produced by Martin Lumsden

Cover photo by Rob de Martin

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I’m thrilled I asked her – after recounting some of her truly art popping experiences growing up as the daughter of Bruno Bischofberger (including making a painting with Jean Michel Basquiat) Cora delivers a 360 degree MASTERCLASS on the jewellery business from designing, creating, selling, promotion and gives an honest and frank insight into running a successful jewellery brand.

Celebrating her 20th year in business this year, we discuss Cora's anniversary book, 'Cora Sheibani Jewels' as well as much, much more.

Download, it’s an absolute masterpiece. 

@corasheibani

@alifecurated

Produced by @martinlumsden

Cover photo by Andrew Testa

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Find out what Robin’s first art memory was, what was the first art work he bought, the three rules he sticks too when art dealing, the hands on training his legendary father Daniel Katz taught him, which artists he loves and hangs in his home, who owned the home prior, and then there’s his incredible passion for the music…….tune into this enthralling episode and enhance your life.

This episode is kindly sponsored by @monsieur_dandy, your next tailor for your new handmade suit.

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For the fifth episode of A Life Curated, I sit down with the world authority on jewellery history, FT journalist and curator, Vivienne Becker.

In this charming conversation, Vivienne tells me about how she started in the antique markets of Notting Hill, her big break by a photocopying machine, making fish fingers for her daughter when Madeleine Albright called, what she looks for in an emerging jeweller, what she loves and laments about the jewellery world, how JAR changed the industry,her deep passion for Lalique, why history and design are crucial to jewellery making, the latest trends and much, much more!

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Born in Halifax and schooled at Eton, John spent time working for his family’s textile business before leaving for Japan in his mid-twenties, spending the final year in Tokyo where he visited the studio of Shira Kuramata, who was to be a huge influence on his career.

Inspired by the minimalistic aesthetic he had witnessed, and after a few pit stops around the world, including a dalliance with Liza Minelli in Australia and an attempt at becoming a monk, upon his return to the UK he enrolled at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, leaving in 1981 to set up his own practice.

Although private houses have remained at the core of his practice, John’s projects have been wide ranging including the Lake Crossing bridge at Kew Gardens, hotels for Aby Rosen, a flagship store for Calvin Klein, projects for Ian Schrager, Bruce Chatwin, Karl Lagerfeld, a Cistercian monastery in Bohemia, The Jaffa hotel in Israel, and in 2016 John designed the new Design Museum in London. Most recently John also designed the Claridge’s Artspace Gallery.

A recipient of a long list of awards, including a CBE in 2019 for services to design and architecture, John has also been published several times, including a foray into cook books, John’s latest book ‘Making Life Simpler ’published by Phaidon was released last month.

John is also an avid photographer, his photos being exhibited at 180 Strand in June 2022, as part of a ‘A Shade of Pale’ exhibition, the largest exhibition of photos per acreage ever exhibited.

Recorded from John’s office in King’s Cross, my name is Nolan Browne, I’m an art advisor with a podcast, this is A Life Curated.

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Having studied at Oxford then at Sotheby’s, at aged 24 , Ivor got his first taste of the art world when he worked for Andras Kalman at Crane Kalman gallery in Knightsbridge.

With funding from his father and installed in a flat in Pont St, he then plunged into Wyndham Lewis drawings, Rossetti, JW Waterhouse, Mondrian and Ben Nicholson.

Having got into Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and Frank Auerbach way before others did, it was in 1989 when he was introduced to a Swedish collector Bo Alveryd that Ivor’s big break came. A Francis Bacon self portrait he had bought for $2m was subsequently sold for $4.2m. Ivor was set.

Dealing also in Paula Rego, Pablo Picasso, and Tracey Emin, by 2001, when Francis Bacon prices began their mountainous climb, from $5 million to $86 million, Ivor had been in the Bacon market for decades. Often called a visionary, Ivor attributes some of his success to going against convention and not necessarily following the market, discovering great pictures and subsequently achieving multiple record prices along the way.

Splitting his time between London and Norfolk, Ivor operates independently, without an army of directors, assistants and white walls, offering a highly-private dealership serving the world’s biggest collectors.

Recorded from Ivor’s home in Chelsea, my name is Nolan Browne, I’m an art advisor with a podcast this is A Life Curated

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It’s often written that David has single handedly revived interest in fashion portraiture bringing the golden age of illustration to the 21st century with his classically elegant, yet highly contemporary images all executed in his distinct sweeping style.

In 1996 David got his big break when he was sent to draw the Paris Couture starting with unparalleled access to Valentino and Versace at the Ritz. Since then he hasn’t looked back and counts Chanel, Estée Lauder, Lancôme, Fenwick, Harrods, Tiffany and the V & A amongst his clients.

David’s portraits of the worlds most iconic women include Laura Bailey, Iman, Dita von Teese, Erin O'connor, Gillian Anderson, Catherine Deneuve and Jasmine Guinness and his work routinely appears in the The New York Times, Vogue, V Magazine, Harpers Bazaar and most recently Vanity Fair.

In this 55 minute odyssey and recorded from his suite at Claridge’s, David and I discuss his inspiration in the early years, how he navigates the personalities in the fashion world, opening that invisible door from a commercial illustrator to the high octane world he now inhabits, tells us the key ingredients of how he made it, the process of a life drawing and if Warhol had Marilyn, Sargeant has Madame X, who is his favourite subject?

Put the lead on the dog, whip on that coat or lie back on the sofa, just remember to plug me in and turn up the volume for this fabulous episode.

Thank you to DD for being such a brilliant guest and an all around class act.

Produced by Martin Lumsden

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In the 80's Dylan started at I.D Magazine, then after various editorships including at The Face, Arena, The Sunday Times, he rose to the very top of publishing as editor of GQ where he stayed for 22 years, turning the magazine into a global brand. GQ won 80 awards in that time, including editor of the year award for Dylan, 11 times. In 2013 Dylan was awarded an OBE for services to publishing.

A media powerhouse in his own right, Dylan is also a critically acclaimed author having written over 20 books with his latest Faster Than A Canonball coming out in October.

In this episode Dylan discusses his career from the start, his earliest art memories, what art does for him, what it is was like to edit during the YBA’s years, gives great advice if you when you receive an opportunity who really pulled the strings behind Saatchi’s collection, his long relationships with Tracey Emin and David Bowie and what art would he buy if he had all the money in the world…

Lie back on the sofa or lace up those trainers, just make sure you plug me in and turn up the volume. Enjoy.

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