22 Facts About Charles Saatchi

1.

Charles Saatchi is known for his art collection and for owning Charles Saatchi Gallery, and in particular for his sponsorship of the Young British Artists, including Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.

2.

Charles Saatchi is Jewish, born in Baghdad, Iraq, the second of four sons, to the wealthy family of Nathan Saatchi and Daisy Ezer.

3.

Nathan Charles Saatchi purchased two textile mills in north London and after a time, rebuilt a thriving business.

4.

Charles Saatchi attended Christ's College, a secondary school in Finchley, north London.

5.

Charles Saatchi has described as "life-changing" the experience of viewing a Jackson Pollock painting at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

6.

Charles Saatchi then progressed to study at the London College of Communication.

7.

In 1969, at age 26, Charles Saatchi purchased his first work of art by Sol LeWitt, a New York minimalist.

8.

Charles Saatchi initially patronised the Lisson Gallery in Marylebone, London, which specialised in American minimalist works.

9.

Charles Saatchi later purchased an entire show by Robert Mangold.

10.

At one point the Charles Saatchi collection contained 11 works by Donald Judd, 21 by Sol LeWitt, 23 by Anselm Kiefer, 17 Andy Warhols and 27 by Julian Schnabel.

11.

Charles Saatchi's taste has mutated from American abstraction and minimalism to the Young British Artists, whose work he first saw at Goldsmith's Art School.

12.

At the YBAs' 1990 Gambler exhibition, Charles Saatchi bought Damien Hirst's first major 'animal' installation, A Thousand Years.

13.

Charles Saatchi made no appearance in the programme, only communicating through an assistant.

14.

In July 2010, Charles Saatchi announced he would be donating the Saatchi Gallery and over 200 works of art to the British public.

15.

The Charles Saatchi Gallery featured in a list of the most visited art museums in the world, based on an attendance survey for 2014, compiled by The Art Newspaper, with 1,505,608 visitors.

16.

In July 2010, Charles Saatchi announced he would be donating the Saatchi Gallery and over 200 works of art to the British public.

17.

Charles Saatchi was a native of Memphis, Tennessee, and Kevin Goldman describes her as "a sophisticated woman who spoke several languages, knew a great deal about art and wine and who had graduated from Smith College and the Sorbonne".

18.

Charles Saatchi became known during their marriage as an art and design journalist, with particular knowledge of American art and minimalism.

19.

In 2003, Charles Saatchi married his third wife, British journalist, author and cook Nigella Lawson.

20.

In June 2013, while dining at Scott's, a London seafood restaurant, Charles Saatchi was photographed with his hands around Lawson's throat.

21.

The day after the pictures were published, Charles Saatchi said they were misleading and depicted only a "playful tiff".

22.

Charles Saatchi was formally cautioned for assault and voluntarily accepted the caution following an investigation by the police.