Nine d'Urso's Interview

Translated by Bethszabee Garner

After playing George Sand for France 2, Nine d'Urso - daughter of Inès de La Fressange - is currently filming a biopic in Rome about the writer Erri De Luca. At the same time, she is presenting La Carte du Tendre, a participatory art installation where everyone can map their memories.

Désirée De Lamarzelle: A gallery where you would like to “borrow” works on a regular basis...

Nine d'Urso: I have several in mind! In Paris, I often go to Romero Paprocki, a gallery that opened in 2020 and showcases emerging artists. But I'd also like to pick up a few works in Rome, at the “Louvre Museum,” a photo gallery run by Giuseppe, a former member of the Communist League in the 1970s, who buys according to his intuition: “If it catches my eye, I take it.” It ranges from flea market finds to Francesca Woodman. He's a true poet.

Désirée De Lamarzelle: The artist you follow on social media.

N.d.U.: My friend DJ Lukus, who can get everyone dancing, from grandmothers to children to Parisian hipsters. On social media, he shares his music and snippets of his life. He's very unifying.

Désirée De Lamarzelle: A work of art that you still don't understand... or that you don't like at all.

N.d.U.: For me, misunderstanding often stems from a lack of communication. For a long time, Cranach's world escaped me: those bodies with very round bellies, that aesthetic confused me. It was thanks to the enlightened perspective of my sister, who is passionate about his work, that I gradually overcame my reservations. Today, I can appreciate its richness.

Désirée De Lamarzelle: If you were a painting?

N.d.U.: I would like to have the gentleness and calm of the frescoes by Fra Angelico in the San Marco convent in Florence. The textures, the pigments, the depth of the colors, the serenity of the faces... It's a place I often visited when I lived in Florence.

Désirée De Lamarzelle: Which artist would you like to invite to dinner at your home?

N.d.U.: Eva Jospin. I know her a little, but I would never dare invite her to my small apartment. Her work is deeply moving. She creates something that I am sure will stand the test of time.

Désirée De Lamarzelle: If you had to sleep in a museum?

N.d.U.: The National Gallery in London, without hesitation. I recently spent a whole day there. I would like to sleep either in front of the Viennese predella or the exhibition on the Sienese Primitives. You would have the most beautiful dreams in the world there.

Désirée De Lamarzelle: If you had to pose nude for an artist?

N.d.U.: Believe it or not, it's already happened... but I'm keeping it a secret! (Laughs)

Désirée De Lamarzelle: Is there a “nude” that particularly moves you?

N.d.U.: The Sleeping Hermaphrodite in the Louvre, a 2nd-century marble statue found in Rome. Everyone's first reaction is surprise at the anatomy, the small penis that you don't expect to see. But for me, the emotion lies elsewhere: in the softness of the flesh, the youthfulness of the body, and above all in the almost furtive delicacy of the movement of the toes. That slight twist of the foot alone contains all the poetry of the sculpture.

Désirée De Lamarzelle: Is there a work that takes you back to your childhood?

N.d.U.: Beatrix Potter's drawings. Peter Rabbit, of course. I was fascinated by the precision of the movements, the softness of the fur. It's illustration, but above all, it's drawing of the highest quality.

An article written by Désirée De Lamarzelle, to be found in issue 12 of OniriQ magazine.