A real authority when it comes to the art of the past thirty years Charles Saatchi, first collector and now gallery owner, opened this institution in 1985 to show his sizeable collection to the public. First in North London, then in South Bank by the River Thames, since October 2008 the gallery opened its new premise in Chelsea. While the venues have changed, Saatchi's collection has also had a number of distinct phases and followed or initiated important trends within the contemporary art world: starting off with a real focus on American artists and minimalism he was the first to display wor … (read more)

A real authority when it comes to the art of the past thirty years Charles Saatchi, first collector and now gallery owner, opened this institution in 1985 to show his sizeable collection to the public. First in North London, then in South Bank by the River Thames, since October 2008 the gallery opened its new premise in Chelsea. While the venues have changed, Saatchi's collection has also had a number of distinct phases and followed or initiated important trends within the contemporary art world: starting off with a real focus on American artists and minimalism he was the first to display works by painters Brice Marden, Jeff Koons and Cy Twombly in the United Kingdom. In an abrupt move, Saatchi sold much of his collection of US art in the early 90s and promoted the Young British Artists, with Damien Hirst or Rachel Whiteread; and more recently has looked back into American painting, Middle Eastern art and, as his 2008 exhibition 'The Revolution Continues: New Art From China' to celebrate his new local is a witness of, contemporary Chinese art.

However the space is not 'simply' a gallery it has also had a history of media controversy, which it has courted, and has had extremes of critical reaction, and many artists shown at the gallery are unknown not only to the general public but also to the commercial art world - showing there provides a springboard to launch careers such as Hirst's. And actually the gallery promotes itself as an institution which wants the general public to discover art - with a number of large philanthropic donations including to the Arts Council of Great Britain Collection, National Arts Collection Fund, eight museum collections across Britain and a very interactive website.

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