CHARLES SAATCHI has been reported to the Office of Fair Trading after being drawn into a dispute between an artist whose paintings he has bought and her former husband.
Stella Vine, a stripper who became a full-time artist after she sold a collection of her work to Mr Saatchi, may abandon her career because Charles Thomson, her former husband, has accused Mr Saatchi of monopolising the art market.
Ms Vine, 35, came to public attention last month when she was chosen by Mr Saatchi to be part of his New Blood exhibition at his London gallery, where her works are displayed alongside those of Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst. Her portraits of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the heroin addict Rachel Whitear, each with blood dripping from their lips, gained national attention.
No sooner had her work appeared than Mr Thomson, to whom she had not spoken for two years, claimed that he and his artist collective, the Stuckists, should be credited for nurturing Ms Vine’s talent.
In a five-page letter to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) he argued that Mr Saatchi’s dominance of the art market in Britain was monopolistic and anti-competitive. “As a small competitor in a market where there is a dominant competitor acting because of their dominant position, my ability to compete is undermined,” he wrote.
The OFT confirmed that it had received the complaint and was considering whether it merited an investigation.
Speaking to The Times, Ms Vine described Mr Thomson’s account of their life together as one-sided and designed to take credit for her newfound fame. “Charles Thomson basically wants his own television show,” she said. “He doesn’t give a s*** about art or the Stuckist movement. He doesn’t believe a woman can do anything on her own. He’s a misogynist.” She added that the complaint to the OFT was part of a pattern of using other artists to gain publicity.
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