My Name Is Charles Saatchi and I Am an Artoholic

by Saatchi, Charles

• ISBN13: 9780714857473
• ISBN10: 0714857475
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-04
• Publisher: Phaidon Press

Summary

This book brings together the answers to almost 200 questions Charles Saatchi, the world's most influential art collector of the last thirty years, has been asked by journalists and visitors to his gallery. Whether the questions are related to art or his personal life, Saatchi answers them all with disarming and sometimes brutal frankness, creating an entertaining and enlightening portrait of a famously publicity shy man, and offering a unique insight into today's art world. Sample questions include: What's the point of art? How do you decide whether something is worth £10 or £10 million? What do you think of the art world? What advice do you and your wife give your children? Have you ever taken advantage of anyone in the art world? How do you rate political advertising today? I know very little about contemporary art but have £1,000 to invest. Any advice? So much contemporary art looks the same to me. Am I missing something? The artist Peter Blake has called you a 'malign influence' because of the way you can 'make' certain artists. Are you a malign influence?

Author Biography

• Charles Saatchi founded the Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency in 1970, which quickly grew to become the largest in the world. He started collecting art at about the same time and opened his first public gallery, a 30,000 sq. ft. ex-paint factory in Boundary Road, London, in 1985. His new gallery occupying the 70,000 sq. ft. Duke of York HQ in Kings Road, London opened in October 2008.