Charles Saatchi

Charles Saatchi (born June 9, 1943) was the co-founder with his brother Maurice of the global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, which became the world's biggest before the brothers were forced out of their own company in 1995. In the same year the Saatchi brothers formed a new agency called M&C Saatchi. Many large clients followed, and their new agency quickly overtook their ex agency in Britain's top ten. Charles is also known worldwide as an art collector and owner of the Saatchi Gallery, and in particular for his sponsorship of the Young British Artists (YBAs), including Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin. Image File history File links Charles_Saatchi. ... Image File history File links Charles_Saatchi. ... June 9 is the 160th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (161st in leap years), with 205 days remaining. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lord Saatchi Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi, born June 21, 1946 is the co-founder of advertising agencies Saatchi and Saatchi and M&C Saatchi. ... Commercialism redirects here. ... Saatchi and Saatchi is an advertising agency founded by brothers Maurice (now Lord Saatchi) and art collector Charles, most famous for their campaign on behalf of the Conservative Party before the 1979 UK general election and for the adverts for British Airways and other state owned interests privatised by the... M&C Saatchi is an advertising agency, with several offices around the world. ... The Saatchi Gallerys new premises in Chelsea, opening early 2007. ... The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living by Damien Hirst (1991). ... The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living by Damien Hirst (1991) Damien Hirst (born June 7, 1965) is an English artist and the leading artist of the group that has been dubbed Young British Artists (or YBAs). ... Front cover of Tracey Emins memoir, Strangeland, published in 2005. ...

Life

Charles Saatchi was born into a Jewish family in Baghdad, Iraq (the name "Saatchi" means "Watchmaker" in Turkish and Farsi (language of Iran) & Iraqi Arabic dialect). His father was an affluent cotton dealer. The family moved to Hampstead, London, when he was four and he attended Christ's College in Finchley, a suburb in North London. During this time he developed an obsession with US pop culture, including the music of Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Chuck Berry. He also manifested his enthusiasm for collections, building up from Superman comics to jukeboxes. He has described as "life changing" the experience of viewing a Jackson Pollock painting at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... Hampstead is a suburb of north London in the London Borough of Camden, located four miles (6. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Christs College is a secondary school in East Finchley, London, United Kingdom. ... Finchley is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, London, England. ... Elvis Aron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), often known simply as Elvis and also called The King of Rock n Roll or simply The King, was an American singer, musician and actor. ... Little Richard (born Richard Wayne Penniman, December 5, 1932) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. ... Charles Edward Anderson Chuck Berry (born October 18, 1926 in St. ... Controversy swirls over the alleged sale of No. ... View across garden, in new MoMA building by Yoshio Taniguchi. ...

In 1970 he started the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi with his brother Maurice; which by 1986 had grown to be the largest agency in the world, with over 600 offices. Successful campaigns in the UK included Silk Cut cigarettes and the promotion of the Conservative Party led by Margaret Thatcher through the slogan "Labour Isn't Working". Eventually, he and his brother Maurice departed the agency and together founded the rival M&C Saatchi agency, taking the huge British Airways advertising account from their former company. Silk Cut is brand of low tar cigarette produced by the Gallaher Group. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC (born October 13, 1925), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in office from 1979 to 1990. ... For the 1930s airline of similar name, see British Airways Ltd. ...

He is a notorious recluse, even hiding from clients when they visited his agency's offices, and has never granted interviews. His first wife, Doris Lockhart, became known during their marriage as an art and design journalist, with particular knowledge of minimalism; his second, Kay Hartenstein, was a Conde Nast journalist. He married celebrity cook Nigella Lawson (his third wife) in 2003 and they live in London with her two children Cosima and Bruno by journalist John Diamond. Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features and core self expression. ... Cond Montrose Nast, born March 26, 1873 in New York City, United States, died there on September 19, 1942, was the founder of Cond Nast Publications, a major American magazine publisher. ... Nigella Lucy Lawson (born January 6, 1960) is an English journalist, cookery writer and television presenter. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... John Diamond (10 May 1953 - 2 March 2001) was a British Jewish broadcaster and journalist. ...

Art

He bought his first painting in 1973 on a visit to Paris with his first wife, Doris Lockhart. This was a realist work by David Hepher, a British artist, and was a detailed realist depiction of suburban houses. His taste has mutated from "School of London", through American abstraction and minimalism, to the YBAs, whose work he first saw at the Freeze exhibition. His renown as a patron peaked in 1997 when part of his collection was shown at the Royal Academy as the exhibition Sensation, which traveled to Berlin and New York causing headlines and much offence (e.g., to families of children murdered by Myra Hindley) and consolidating the position of the YBAs. City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Freeze was the title of an art exhibition organised by Damien Hirst and other students from Goldsmiths College. ... This article refers to an art institution in London. ... Sensation was a notorious exhibition of Young British Artists which took place in 1997 (18 September-28 December) at the Royal Academy of Art in London and later toured to Berlin and New York. ...

The political symbolism of Saatchi's oeuvre was reinforced by curating an exhibition with the title "New Labour" at the Saatchi Gallery in 2001 (an obvious reference to the strategy of the same name adopted by Labour Party leader Tony Blair). In 2003 the Saatchi Gallery moved to County Hall, the former home of London Mayor Ken Livingstone's (Labour run) GLC (that was abolished by Margaret Thatcher in 1985), with Damien Hirst's "Hymn" (a giant sculpture of a flayed corpse copied directly from a commercially-available children's anatomical model) being installed in the former council chamber of the Labour GLC. The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in England, Scotland and Wales. ... For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency... Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born June 17, 1945) is an English politician who became Mayor of London on the creation of the post in 2000. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC (born October 13, 1925), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in office from 1979 to 1990. ...

The gallery's tenancy of County Hall had ongoing difficulties with Makoto Okamoto, London branch manager of the owners, who Saatchi complained had kicked artworks and sealed off the disabled toilets[1].On September 27, 2005 the gallery announced they would be moving to new premises. On October 7, 2005 a court case began against the gallery, brought by County Hall landlords, Cadogan Leisure Investments, and owners Shirayama Shokusan Co Ltd, for alleged breach of conditions, including a two-for-one ticket offer in Time Out magazine and exhibition of work in unauthorised areas. The judgement went against the gallery, who were forced to relinquish the premises, though the gallery had already announced it was moving to take on the entire Duke of York’s HQ building in Chelsea. There is currently a halt to London shows while these new premises are being prepared. September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 7 is the 280th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (281st in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Time-out can mean: sport time-out, a break in play that may be called by a side to formulate strategy or respond to an players injury. ...

Although the event was openly celebrated by much of the media and general public, Charles Saatchi was said to be devastated when, on 24 May 2004, a fire in a storage warehouse destroyed many art works, worth millions of pounds, from the Saatchi collection. One art insurance specialist valued the burned work at £50m. May 24 is the 144th day of the year (145th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Momart is a British company specialising in the storage, transportation, and installation of works of art. ...

He makes numerous visits to exhibitions, as well as seeking out artists' studios and little-known galleries, particularly in East London, in order to purchase new work. Saatchi claims he is shy, to explain why he rarely gives interviews and makes few public appearances, not even the openings of his own exhibitions (despite having awarded the Turner Prize one year, and answering readers' questions in The Art Newspaper). In 2005 he began work on a new gallery in Chelsea, London, to open in 2007, which occupies the entire 50,000 sq ft. Duke of York Building. In October 2006 he collaborated again with the Royal Academy, while his new building was being prepared, with the show USA Today. The exhibition featured many young US based artists, some largely unknown, who Saatchi believes will be the next generation of art stars. The Art Newspaper (Established in 1983) is a weekly newspaper about the visual arts based in London. ... USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. ...

Curator as creator

Saatchi is often considered to be "the artist" himself, manipulating and selecting found objects produced by other individuals. Hence he is seen as a quintessentially postmodern artist by theorists, a "curator as creator." Individuals such as Tracey Emin appear not to understand the significance of their own random creations^{[citation needed]} (as witnessed by her low-brow TV interviews^{[citation needed]}); in contrast Saatchi himself is able to ascribe meaning to these found objects and declare them to be art. Hence, is criticised^{[citation needed]} for using his wealth to manipulate individuals in the manner of found physical objects. Found objects are materials found (such as pebbles, candy wrappers, or leaves) and not made (such as inks, paints, and crayons. ... Postmodernity (also called post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is a term used by philosophers, social scientists, art critics and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary art, culture, economics and social conditions that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century... Front cover of Tracey Emins memoir, Strangeland, published in 2005. ...

See also

The Saatchi Gallery http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/ The Saatchi Gallerys new premises in Chelsea, opening early 2007. ...

References

The Daily Telegraph December 31, 2002 [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1598201,00.html eviction from County Hall) December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...

Further reading

• Supercollector: a Critique of Charles Saatchi by Rita Hatton and John A Walker (Institute of Artology, 2005) ISBN 0-9545702-2-7

External links

• BBC Profile
• The Saatchi Gallery
• Charles Saatchi, Readers Q&A, The Art Newspaper
• Charles Saatchi, Readers Q&A, The Independent
• Guardian Interview