Through her large collection of paintings, sculptures, and antiques—among which she shares her opulent Berlin loft with husband Carlos Brandl—Manuela Alexejew's intriguing life story is revealed in this book. One of Germany's most prestigious private collections of modern and contemporary art, it includes pieces by a variety of artists, including Otto Dix, Otto Piene, George Condo, Allen Jones, Yayoi Kusama, and Alicja Kwade (to mention a few).  Having enviable looks, Manuela Alexejew began her career as a flight attendant for Pan Am at the height of the airline industry's glitz. Since then, she has accumulated a diverse range of experiences around the world, from hanging out with Sophia Loren at the storied Studio 54 to unwinding at Oscar de la Renta's house in Santo Domingo. Alexejew then went back to her artistic roots. After completing her studies at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin, she dedicated herself to collecting with a sincere enthusiasm, making each purchase based only on her emotional connection to the piece and never with the intention of making a profit. After completing her studies at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin, she dedicated herself to collecting with a sincere enthusiasm, making each purchase based only on her emotional connection to the piece and never with the intention of making a profit. Author and journalist Thomas Kausch has penned Alexejew's unexpected tale from her own perspective based on a number of frank and entertaining interviews with her. It's not about the money is an unique glimpse inside the generally closed world of a famous collector when combined with newly-commissioned images of the collection by Andrea Ferrari. € 35.00 incl. VAT