Art of Being Saatchi

[Yaya]

The art of being Saatchi

As created a cult of the most mysterious person in the modern art market

Charles Saatchi busy stage direction of its own success. But do not ask him about it. He would not say anything, and certainly will not meet you. The collector of contemporary art and a former advertiser is promoting his new book and TV reality show in his usual manner - hiding from everyone. Calculations are correct: because journalists are intolerant to an information vacuum, they will find a food for thought. (Saatchi said that refuses to meet with the reporter Forbes, if we can not guarantee him the cover. Then we have refused.) In fact, the information "patches" from which you can sew "blankets", are already enough - in particular, due to published fall 2009 book, "My name is Charles Saatchi, and I artogolik".

Master manipulated image, 66-year-old Saatchi for many years cherishes his right to seclusion. In the 1970's, this offspring of Jewish immigrants from Iraq, who was born in Baghdad, has become an advertising magnate, transforming established together with his younger brother Maurice Saatchi & Saatchi company in the world's largest advertising agency. Kevin Goldman, a former advertising columnist for the newspaper Wall Street Journal, who wrote the 1996 book about the rise and fall of Saatchi & Saatchi, said that Maurice was the nominal head of the company, led the current case and to communicate with clients, Charles is also a creative driving force behind the scenes agency. In contrast to the creative directors of competing companies, Charles refused to meet with clients. Seclusion Saatchi gave an additional advantage. "It adds significance to him," - says Goldman.

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Among the achievements of Saatchi & Saatchi - the election campaign in 1978 "Leyborizm does not work", which helped Margaret Thatcher to become Prime Minister of Great Britain. (The English version is a play on words: «Labour Isn't Working» also means "Workers do not work", the poster was a picture of an endless queue of the unemployed.) Another famous image - created by order of the British Health Education Council poster lobbying for use of contraceptives, which depicted a pregnant woman. Finally, Saatchi & Saatchi came up with a simple but compelling advertising campaign for British Airways - «The most favorite airline in the world. Charles or composing expressive slogans, or advertising ideas advocated.

"Style of Charles can be described as inventive, witty and very elegant", - says Goldman. Reflecting this style was great and the company's headquarters in London's Berkeley Square. Saatchi & Saatchi has developed and anti-tobacco advertisements ( "You can not wash their lungs"), and stylish an advertising campaign for a cigarette brand Silk Cut. "How kind of you - to think that advertising texts are written from the heart" - so Charles answers the question of whether the ads he created his world.

Agency Saatchi & Saatchi has grown by leaps and bounds, absorbing about 80 companies, 13 of which were bought for only one in 1985. Company's turnover in 1989, amounted to $ 3.2 billion, but the brothers expanded their business too quickly, and to the 1990's, the agency already teetering on the top of the mountain of debt. Stock quotes Saatchi & Saatchi slid down, and in late 1994, the board of directors fired Maurice. Shortly thereafter, left the company and Charles. Maurice then created a new advertising agency M & C Saatchi, but Charles is involved in it only by its initials in the title. The company Saatchi & Saatchi in 2000, bought the holding company Publicis.

Charles withdrew from active work in the agency back in 1980, turned his attention to works of art. Collector by nature, he was a child began to collect comic books about Superman. Then Charles collecting magazines devoted to opt for a nudist (say, he likes to walk around naked at his mansion for $ 12 million in London's Belgravia, where he lives with his third wife, the star of British cooking Naydzhelloy Lawson), and then - jukeboxes. Focus on collecting works of art he had convinced his first wife - an American, Doris Lockhart, author of books on painting.

From the beginning Saatchi did everything wrong, like other collectors. If he liked the work of the artist, he immediately bought a set of his works, and immediately wanted to show them to the public - sometimes, of course, to her shock. "I buy art that I like - succinctly recognized Saatchi. - I buy them in order to display them at exhibitions. Then, if I want, I sell them and buy new ones.

Present its collection of parade - a good way to inflate your ego or forcing up the cost of collection. French tycoon Francois Pinault, opened two museums in Venice, the Ukrainian Viktor Pinchuk his own museum in Kiev, Eli Broad organized a "museum in a museum in Los Angeles. Charles Saatchi began to deal with this for two decades before.

In 1985, Saatchi opened his first public exposure in a large snow-white gallery, located in a green area of London St John's Wood, which immediately gained popularity among art lovers. List of the exhibition was extensive. In the gallery devoted to works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, Brice Marden's monochrome canvases, wood and concrete sculptures of Donald Judd and the composition of Jeff Koons as plexiglass pool in which floated basketballs.

As when working in an advertising agency, Saatchi chose to remain behind the scenes, did not appear at one of its sensational opening day. "I do not go to someone else's premiere, so I decided to follow this rule and in relation to himself" - he writes in his book. (All quotations are taken from the Saatchi of the book.)

In 1990 Saatchi began to sell its American collection and buy works by contemporary British artists. One of his first acquisitions was a glass container with a rotting cow's head, in which swarming worms and flies - the work of recently graduated from art school, a young man named Damien Hirst. Saatchi also bought a product Tracey Emin "Everyone with whom I slept. 1963-1995 ", which was a tourist tent, painted the inside the names of sexual partners, the artist, her relatives and her two unborn children. It is said that Saatchi paid for this work $ 60 000. He began to regularly go and see the young artists in the studio, stopping them on a green Rolls-Royce. If he liked a certain product, he bought all the works of this author.

Collection Saatchi Gallery visitors fought on the spot. Among his favorite authors - brothers Jake and Dinos Chapman, who create pornographic, anatomically grotesque sculptures. On the question of whether it collects such works for their shocking nature, Saatchi says: "One people like art, others like to receive the shock of art. Everyone is happy. "

At least all this is discussed. "He likes the idea digestible, in the form of art, which can attract a mass audience - a hair's breadth in advertising", - shares his observations of the Manhattan art dealer Robert Goff, who sold the work of Saatchi was born in Iraq 35-year-old artist Ahmed Alsudani. "Since the Saatchi operates as a private citizen, he can quickly make decisions and take risks", - adds Goff.

Over time, the exhibition, organized by the Saatchi became increasingly influence in the museum business, and the career of a hitherto unknown artists such as Hirst, Emin and the Chapman Brothers. In 1993, Saatchi attracted the attention of little-known pictures of 22-year-old painter Jenny Saville, who barely make ends meet. Leaving girl studio, Saatchi has concluded a contract with her for a year, during which Saville created paintings for his gallery. Currently, the cost of huge canvases, brushes Saville imaging burly of models reaches $ 1.1 million of Saatchi included the above-mentioned artists in this exhibition of his collection, which was shown in 1997 at the London Royal Academy of Arts. On this show, called "Sensation", screamed headlines of all newspapers. And when the exhibition moved to the ocean, in the Brooklyn Museum, the scandal broke: then-New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani threatened to cut the budget of the museum, seeing the painting at an exhibition of British artist Chris Ofili was born in Nigeria - on canvas depicting a black Virgin Mary adorned with elephant dung.

Price will never become a barrier to Saatchi. (His personal fortune is estimated at $ 165 million) more than once before he could see all the talented work, cheap to buy it and then get a handsome profit at resale. According to the daily Guardian, in 1991 it for $ 22 000 gained a sculptural self-portrait of Marc Quinn - artist's frozen head, cast from 4.5 liters of his own blood, and in 2005 resold for $ 2.7 million if the other valid data, acquired directly journalists, over the shark that Damien Hirst to pickle in a tank of formaldehyde, Saatchi paid in 1992 $ 84 000, and in 2005 resold it an art object to American billionaire Steven Cohen for $ 13 million, "I never really did not think about the market -- Saatchi said, speaking about the art of speculation. - I do not mind paying for the work that I really want to get in three to four times its market value. "

With bored works Saatchi parted without regret, too, even if this may bring down prices on the art market. Sean Scully, an Irish artist, writer butter large geometric compositions, slightly resembling a chessboard, complains that in the 1980's Saatchi first thrashing the price of his work, and then arranged dumping, getting rid of them. Collection Saatchi wrong to call the collection - considered Scully. - The correct name for this - stocks ". Saatchi retorted: "Since the paintings Scully go to auction today for $ 800 000 and more, I do not think that I completely destroyed his market."

Second wife of Charles Saatchi, Kay Hartenstayn, once called him "a man possessed by passion - for cars, clothing, and artists. Saatchi and does not deny this: "If you are doing the same things I do, you inevitably will sometimes bless people, and sometimes - to disappoint them. I like to maintain the freshness of my collection.

And he likes to make it available to the public. In 2003 Saatchi moved his gallery from one of the buildings on the Thames, but two years later slipped out of the conflict with the landlord. In October 2008 the second, he again opened the gallery in the luxurious mansion area of 6300 sq. m, located in the Chelsea neighborhood. This four-story building with a high and spacious rooms, whose facade is decorated with Doric columns, was built in 1803 and originally served as a haven for orphaned children of soldiers and officers. (However, most of the 2500 work included in the Saatchi collection, stored in the vaults.)

Two rooms on the upper floor is the auction house Phillips de Pury, who as compensation subsidizes free entrance to the gallery for all comers. At Saatchi has Volnoye agreement with Phillips to sell works of art through the auction house, although he uses, and many other channels, including Sotheby's and Christie's, as well as private sales. Many dealers sarcastically remark that the financial terms of the agreement are unfavorable to Phillips, but the head of the auction house, Simon de Pury believes his "excellent understanding".

In addition to the exhibition hall at the Saatchi has his own website - with reviews, directories of museums and galleries, blogs, links to addresses of art schools and organizations that give grants, as well as a huge on-line trading platform, where any artist can to sell their work. Saatchi is not in charge of sales on the site and does not charge fees for online transactions.

The new gallery has already hosted the exhibition of contemporary art of China and the Middle East, as well as American abstract painting and sculpture. At the end of January 2010 opened the Saatchi exhibition of contemporary Indian art "The Empire Strikes Back".

Saatchi remains a cult figure today? Chinese art he is interested only in 2008, when prices had soared to the heights of space. Exhibition of American abstract art, won a very cool reviews. Collection Saatchi degraded - laments experienced Manhattan art dealer, who wished to remain anonymous because he does business with Saatchi. - At one time he, without doubt, the most outstanding collector. He was an exceptional curatorial flair. The current exhibition, believes that the dealer, contains "a lot of minor works, this is only a shadow of the former Saatchi Collection."

At Charles Saatchi, of course, ready to answer grumbling experts: "Of course, before I was more dynamic. I built the advertising business, and gathered a collection of frantic energy. Now I let off steam, but still get pleasure from buying works of art that I like, and by presenting new artists to the public. Therefore, I hope it's worth it - to continue to do their work.

Meanwhile, the attention that attracts the "let off steam" collector Saatchi, more than enough. In late November 2009 on BBC television channel started excellently produced by reality television show "School Saatchi. This is the first TV show about art in the style of reality show American billionaire Donald Trump's "apprentice» (Apprentice). For four episodes, which lasted for one hour, the jury of four judges choose from thousands of applicants, six people, which then undergo a series of tests, including drawing from life and creating art objects on the sea shore. The winner participates in the exhibition organized by Charles Saatchi "Newspeak. British Art Now "at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. In addition, the winner of the contest has at its disposal for three years the studio in London, paid Saatchi.

Saatchi himself, who owns a decisive voice in determining the winner, never appears in the frame - just to show opening credits, when the lead is Saatchi as "one of the most influential and most enigmatic figures in contemporary art, on television there is a photograph of him. BBC does not pay anything to Charles Saatchi for their participation in the show, and he pledged not to buy the work of winning at least a year since the completion of the competition, so that no financial benefit from the early acquisition of Saatchi does not get the picture. It covers their risks psychologically: "If the program would be boring and fail, I'll pretend that it is pursuing educational goals. But, of course, would be much nicer if it would be entertaining enough to get people interested in contemporary art.

Seclusion Saatchi - in itself a kind performance - still works wonders. "Charles Saatchi - edakii hybrid of Howard Hughes and Donald Trump - believes the New York art consultant Neil Melttser. - He wants to share his art with the audience, but do not want to have affairs with these people. Brilliant! »

Susan Adams, FORBES