Two years after Piazza Duomo opened, the Italian artist Francesco Clemente frescoed the main dining room of our gourmet restaurant for us. As required by this technique, Clemente painted non-stop for five whole days, and all the time he wasn’t busy painting he spent with us, as one of the family. It was from this intimacy that an instinctive, hybrid work of art took shape where - in addition to some of Clemente’s recurrent motifs, such as lipsticks, the deer, the cage from which birds have escaped - we find echoes of our Langhe region, like the vine leaves.
The Barolo Chapel project opened up many new paths for us: it allowed us to meet the leading curator and art critic Bill Katz, who appreciated our whimsical streak, and helped us to transform our restaurants - La Piola and Piazza Duomo - into miniature art galleries.
The next step came naturally: we invited artists to visit us, and set up exhibitions that went on to become village fairs, extraordinary occasions that brought so much to us and to the region we live in. Thanks to our genuine, friendly hospitality and the emphasis on complete freedom of expression, these ties invariably develop into lasting partnerships.
