Telegraph art critic Richard Dorment asks the important question after Charles Saatchi announced his gift to Britain: What exactly does Saatchi own? and who will pay for it’s upkeep?
When he donates 200 works of art worth £25 million to a foundation renamed the Museum of Contemporary Art London in 2012, we will learn which works of art are actually owned by Charles Saatchi, as opposed to merely shown in his gallery. Highlights (and low points) will range from works by YBAs originally shown in the RA’s Sensation exhibition, such as Tracey Emin’s ‘Bed’ and installations by the Chapman Brothers, to pieces we’ve seen recently in surveys of recent art from China and the US.
Saatchi is nothing if not a visionary. His hope to use private sponsorship to keep the collection in its present location in Duke of York Square with free entry for all is admirable but whether as it is actually feasible in the long term without either an endowment or support from the government isn’t self-evident.
Richard Wilson’s much loved Oil Room installation is part of the gift. A series of three exhibitions starting in 2012 will reveal the full extent of the collection.
Charles Saatchi’s Donation (Telegraph)