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Hell fire - details starting to emerge (Thursday
May 27 2004 #2)
compiled by Susan Hunt
More information is emerging about Monday's
fire in London that has destroyed many important artworks. Jake
and Dinos Chapman's Hell (1999-2000)
is among the pieces believed to have been lost in the blaze in
a warehouse in Leyton, east London. The building, owned by one
of England's top art handlers and storers, Momart, is thought
to have contained works by many other leading contemporary British
artists including:
- Damien Hirst (who is believed to have lost
sixteen paintings and a bronze sculpture entitled Charity)
- Tracey Emin - Everyone I Have Ever
Slept With 1963-95
- Sarah Lucas
- Patrick Heron (who lost fifty major
works)
- Gary Hume and
- Martin Maloney.
Over one hundred art
works which were inside when the blaze began were owned by Charles
Saatchi, the leading collector, who is said to be devastated.
Saatchi commissioned the Chapman brother's Hell
for an estimated £500,000. This particular piece contained
over 5,000 carefully modelled and painted figurines of skeltons
and Nazi soldiers.
Saatchi was also the
patron of two of Emin's works which are now believed to have been
destroyed. The most well known of these is probably her work entitled
Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-95. This blue
tent was emblazoned with the names of the 102 people Emin shared
a bed with during the period mentioned.
The warehouse contained
over 5% of Momart's complete holdings and represents a considerable
and irreplaceable loss for the British art scene and modern art
in general. Insurers are expected to be faced with payout claims
of tens of millions of pounds. The cause of the fire has yet to
be released.
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| Jake and Dinos Chapman: Hell;
image held here |
Source: here
and elsewhere.
Most recent news items:
• Bizarre mix of art and FBI / David looking good (Thursday 27 May 2004 #1)
• O'Donnell + Tuomey for Venice Architecture Biennale 2004 (Wednesday May 26 2004)
• Two important art launches: Triarc and Iris (Tuesday May 25 2004)
• New art stamps / our Google ranking (Thursday May 20 2004)
For a full list of news items, click here.
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| Responses so far |
| Comment 1 |
This is a huge tragedy. Although many of these works were
created to be ephemeral, the loss will be keenly felt in
the contemporary art community for years to come.
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| Comment 2 |
Hmmmm, Tracy Emin's Everyone I
Ever Slept With - perhaps this was smote with a thunderbolt
by the Divine Hand?
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| Comment 3 |
I feel that somehow, something I had never personally seen
will be forever denied me....Like hearing that the Pyramids
have been destroyed in a freak bulldozing accident...even
though I have no wish to participate in the vulgarity of
their viewing at this moment, maybe, just maybe I might
have changed my mind.
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| Comment 4 |
The recent gloating over the fire in some quarters and the
statements saying Tracey Emin's art was irrelevant simply
because her materials are easily purchasable is somewhat
missing the point....Even though not comparable in terms of
value or creative genius, it's like claiming Van Gogh's
Sunflowers are just daubs of paint on a bit of stretched
canvas....Only cost him 2 Francs or so, so has no value as
a consequence. Is art simply to be related to manual
workload?
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| Comment 5 |
Don't call the loss of art a tragedy. Reassess your life if
it is. It's only something you would've looked at in a
gallery. You might think it will make a difference to your
life. It won't. Trust me on this.
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| Comment 6 |
If art has never made a difference to your life, you must
lead one hell of a sad existence.
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