Melissa Ulfane was always going to be someone with an eye. Born in South Africa but shaped by the salons and galleries of Europe, she developed a taste for the exceptional early on. There are those who collect things in the way that one might absentmindedly pick up shells on a beach, and then there are those, like Ulfane, for whom collecting is an art in itself. Books, paintings, objects with a past—each piece chosen with the heart, knowledge and a clear sense of self.
She made her name in publishing, founding Pushkin Press in 1997, with the quiet but determined goal of reviving European literary treasures for an English audience. Her editions of Stefan Zweig and Antal Szerb were as elegant in design as they were in prose, a testament to her belief that literature should be as beautifully made as written. Pushkin became a byword for taste—books to be read, admired, handled, and lived with. After selling the press in 2012, she turned her focus ever more intently to art and interiors, filling her Parisian hôtel particulier with pieces that would spark joy and interest in any person with half a heart, let alone the Tat audience who the contents will enthrall.
Now, that collection—an ensemble of Old Masters, Islamic textiles, modernist furniture, and objets with an air of having witnessed history—is about to go under the hammer at Dreweatts. It’s a rare opportunity to see taste distilled, a masterclass in how to curate a life through objects. But Ulfane, ever ahead of the game, isn’t one for sentimentality. “The thrill,” she might say, “is in the choosing.” And now, it’s someone else’s turn.
Favourite restaurant?
Taku in Mayfair and Takuto Handroll in Paris
Top destination in the UK?
My friend’s home in Gloucestershire, Sezincote House, has beautiful architecture and gardens that are open to the public in the summer.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes, in the possibility
Are you a fan of surprises?
Yes and no…
Pet Peeve? (e.g. mine is people not saying thank you if you hold the door open etc)
People crossing the road glued to their phones and completely unaware of incoming road traffic, like me when I’m driving!
Favourite poem?
Marvell, To his Coy Mistress
Rilke, Duino Elegies
Any good advice? Who gave it to you?
Better to be happy than right - a very wise woman once told me…
If money was no object, what painting would you like to own?
The pair of recent Anselm Kiefer’s paintings that open the Ashmolean show on at the moment. They are inspired by some Rilke poems.
There is a Kiefer in my upcoming sale, Aperiatur Terra, from which it will be difficult to part.
What song will always make you tap your foot?
I never remember the name of songs! But anything by the Rolling Stones
What language would you most like to be able to speak?
Spanish well. I speak French and Italian serviceably, but I struggle to express myself in Spanish, and it’s such a beautiful language with an incredibly rich literature.
If you could live in any era of history, which one would you choose and what would you do?
Now … such an interesting time of change
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