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      06-09-2006, 03:06 PM   #1
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Contemporary Painting>Charles Saatchi-Modern Medici


Dirk Skreber. 2004. It Rocks Us So Hard Ho-Ho-Ho

Charles Saatchi - Modern Medici


Want to see up-to-the-minute contemporary painting? Check out this web-site of literally hundreds of international artists - most in their 30's and 40's - in the collection of English billionaire Sir Charles Saatchi. Hit the link below and try it. You might be surprised. Every time I revisit there are new artists to check out...and new features like the artists blog. This is a relatively cool trip through high culture without the moralising goofiness that puts off a lot of people.

The web-site has essays on painting by some prestigious art-historians- a virtual tour thru the new gallery’s digs ( in the gigantic heap of what was the Duke of York’s HQ in Sloane Square) and over 2,000 super hi-res jpgs of artists in the collection. Want to talk art?- there’s a very active blog. Check out London Art Schools?...there are links. This is an incredibly packed website that’s easy to navigate.

The Saatchi Gallery in London isn’t really a gallery- it’s a museum housing the contemporary art collection of Charles Saatchi - specializing in mid-career artists from Britain, U.S.A. and Germany. Charles Saatchi made his initial fortune as a media advisor to the Thatcher government in the 1970’s as well as handling various international commercial advertising accounts.

During the 1980’s he began collecting contemporary British art on a massive scale buying out entire shows from Chelsea galleries-and in the process, creating instant millionaires of the artists and gallery dealers he frequented. Every couple of years he will sell off his current collection on the international market and re-invest the profits in new art.

Right now he is collecting new paintings on a scale that is unmatched in contemporary times. Downside? He can make or break an artists’ reputation by unloading work far below the price he paid...which he has done...or he can anoint an artist by buying paintings already sold and offering owners 3 and 4 times their sale price. Some refuse- many don’t.


http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk
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