Born in London in 1967, Daphne Guinness grew up moving between England, Ireland and Spain, where Salvador Dalí was a family friend. She married Greek shipping heir Spyros Niarchos in 1987 and had three children. After their divorce in 1999, Guinness became known for her work in art and fashion and her close friendships with Isabella Blow and Alexander McQueen. In 2004, she produced the short film Cashback, which garnered critical acclaim and was nominated for an Academy Award. Known for her eccentric and theatrical style, a selection of her wardrobe was exhibited at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology in 2011. Her Tony Visconti-produced debut album, Optimist in Black, was released this year. Evening in Space is the latest single.
1 | Art
Beyond Caravaggio, National Gallery, London
I used to love Caravaggio when I was a teenager, then I thought he was too obvious and a little bit pastiche, so I moved on to other things. I go through huge phases of liking people and then thinking I don’t like them, then having another look and thinking they’re wonderful. It struck me that his lighting is so bizarre and so different from any that came before or afterwards. I thought the exhibition was well overdue, it should have happened a long time ago. I’d like to go back and have another look – I have to go back about 15 times to really take in a show.
2 | Music
This is one of the most interesting albums I’ve ever listened to. It’s textured in a way I don’t think people will really understand for a very long time. I hear new things on it every day, it’s a complete masterpiece. The more you listen to it, the more you understand. There’s quite a lot of hope in it as well. He was the one person that didn’t sell out, didn’t give interviews, didn’t give his life over to everybody else. He put it all into what he did, which I found very elegant. He helped me so much when I did my album and was an infinitely fascinating person: a real intellectual, an incredible artist and very down-to-earth.
3 | Exhibition
Stanley Kubrick is one of my favourite film directors. I love everything he did: Eyes Wide Shut, A Clockwork Orange, Dr Strangelove. I saw this exhibition first in Los Angeles and then in London at Somerset House. In LA it was a big, big exhibition; I went back three times. It had everything – costumes, scripts, props. It was fascinating to see his process and handwritten notes. I think he was very exacting. I even love Barry Lyndon, even though I don’t like [lead actor] Ryan O’Neal. The way Kubrick filmed it was just beautiful, and the soundtrack is great.
4 | Restaurant
This belongs to a friend of mine. I live more in New York, but this is where I go when I’m in London. There’s a sushi bar, and downstairs is English and French food, and it’s perfect. I’m not very fussy with food – I either have grilled fish, a soup or scrambled eggs. I’m not someone who likes to go to those trendy restaurants and try lots of new things. When I go out to eat, it’s normally because I’m hungry and because I want to have dinner with a friend.
5 | Fiction
A Clue to the Exit by Edward St Aubyn
I think Edward St Aubyn is the greatest living English novelist: he’s funny, honest and has a command of the English language that is astonishing. His work can be heartbreaking, and he keeps everything to a complete minimum without it being contrived. I’ve read many of his books but I hadn’t read this one, which a friend recommended to me, and I found it brilliant. It was written in the late 1990s and, basically, it’s a story about someone who is dying – and he’s writing a book as he’s dying.
6 | Opera
Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Royal Opera House, London
Opera is something I love. I studied classical music before I got married – I was supposed to go into that world and I didn’t, but I’ve always gone to the opera, mainly on my own because no one else likes it. I hate going with people who don’t like it because you are thinking throughout the performance: “Oh my god, they’re bored.” But opera shouldn’t really be taken that seriously. It’s supposed to be fun, it’s not supposed to be like going to the dentist. I normally shut my eyes and try to sit near the front so I can hear what the musicians and the conductor are doing. The story doesn’t really interest me that much, I’m listening out for the arias.
7 | Poetry
Paul Valéry is someone I read and reread. There’s an awful lot of his stuff, so you could spend a lifetime reading it and never really get to the end. At the moment I’m reading a book of his called Alphabet, which is very beautiful indeed. The terrible thing is that I just cry all the time whenever I read him. One of his great themes was intelligence and, at the end of his life, eroticism. I read him in French – he’s probably more well known in France than he is in England. He’s infinitely quotable and has an extraordinary turn of phrase. He could sum things up in an aphorism.
