Annie Cohen-Solal is Distinguished Professor at Bocconi University in Milan (Department of Social and Political Sciences). She received her PhD from the Sorbonne, where she developed a joint interest in history and sociology. Her academic career has led her to hold positions at prestigious universities from Berlin to Jerusalem, New York and Paris.

As a writer, she gained international recognition in 1985 with Sartre-A Life, translated into fifteen languages. From 1989 to 1993, she worked as Cultural Counselor at the French Embassy in the United States – an experience that inspired her to explore the theme of art and immigration through numerous conferences, articles and exhibitions. Her books include Painting American (Prix Bernier de l’Académie des beaux-arts, 2000), Leo Castelli & His Circle (Prix ArtCurial 2010), New York Mid-Century (with Paul Goldberger and Robert Gottlieb, 2013), Mark Rothko (Yale UP, collection Jewish Lives, 2015). Her latest book Picasso the Foreigner (Prix Femina Essai, Fayard, 2021 and Gallimard Folio, 2023) was published in English by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (USA and English-speaking world) and in Spanish by Paidós (Spain and Spanish-speaking world) in Spring 2023. Next editions in 2024: Poland (Znak Koncept), Brazil (Record), Italy (Marsilio), and Russia, China, Japan etc.

As an exhibition curator, Annie produced Magiciens de la terre: Revisiting a Legendary Exhibition (Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2014 with Jean-Hubert Martin); Picasso l’étranger (Musée national de l’immigration and Musée national Picasso Paris, 2021-2022), which won the Historia prize for best historical exhibition 2022. A version of this exhibition A Foreigner Called Picasso is currently being presented in New York  at Gagosian West 21st Street (November 10 to December 22, 2023; it is co-curated with Vérane Tasseau). Forthcoming Picasso exhibitions might include Mantova (Palazzo Te) and Milano (Palazzo Reale). Annie Cohen-Solal is also a trustee of Paris College of Art since 2015. Born in Algiers, Cohen-Solal lives between Paris, Cortona and Milan.