The Friends, or Amici, have been very supportive of the Circle since the very beginning, They open their homes to us in the evenings, after our long days of debates have left us in need of revitalization!
Joe Helman ran two important galleries in New York (Blum Helman and later, Joe Helman Gallery). Joe has been one of the most successful art dealers of the 20th century. His stable included William Baziotes, Joseph Cornell, Roy Lichtenstein, Bruce Nauman, Ellsworth Kelly, and Richard Serra among other notables. Together with his wife, Ursula, they have restored one of Umbria’s most magnificent buildings, Petacciolo Castle, which dates back to Carolingian times.
The Marquise Ginevra Sanminiatelli Corsini in Bruti Liberati, known to us a little less formally as Ginevra, is a member of the Florentine princely Corsini family, which counts in the family two popes and a saint! She is a specialist in antique carpets and textiles and has consulted for Christie’s.
Filippo Orsini is the Director of the Historical Archives of the city of Todi. He has a profound knowledge of the city’s history and is the author of numerous publications on the subject. He is particularly interested in the history of the Papal States, the orders of chivalry and their proofs of nobility, family memoirs and genealogy.
Stash Klossowski De Rola is the son of Balthus: ‘Stash’, actually, Prince Stanislaus Klossowski de Rola, was a friend of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Syd Barrett, and played percussion in Vince Taylor’s band.
Matteo Boetti, son of the artist Alighiero Boetti, has a fine gallery in the city of Todi. Matteo is also a renowned poet, with several books published.
Alberto Vitale was the Chairman and CEO of Random House, Inc. for the last decade of the 20th Century. Before being at Random House he was the CEO of the Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group. Among his authors were Agatha Christie, Ed Doctorow, , Chuck Yeager, Robert Ludlum, Norman Mailer, Katherine Hepburn, Ken Follett, and Toni Morrison.