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HomeCultureInterview: Author and Art Collector Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian
Interview: Author and Art Collector Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian
By Cassandra Tanti - November 12, 2020
Never before has the public been given such an exclusive view into the lives of art collectors and gallerists. For Art’s Sake by Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian is as much a window into the minds of these great collectors, as it is a door into their elaborate homes.
From “rock ‘n’ roll art dealer” Ivor Braka who has “spent a lifetime breaking the established rules” from his gothic home in London’s Knightsbridge, to Monaco’s own pre-eminent art dealer Adriano Ribolzi and his self-designed penthouse filled with historical treasures, this book is for lovers of art, architecture and interesting stories.
Monaco Life sat down with Author and Collector Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian during the book’s launch at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco in late October to talk about the makings of For Art’s Sake – a celebration of living with art.
Monaco Life: You were 17 years old when you got your first artwork. What was it about that piece that captured you?
Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian: It was a gift that my father gave me, a piece by Bernard Buffet. I was very attracted to it so I started learning about the artist. After that, my uncle taught me everything; he taught me the ropes. He was like my father – I grew up with him and his wife in Venezuela – and he was a very well-known contemporary Latin American and historical art collector. His second home was Christies, Sotheby’s and the museums. When our families would gather together on Sundays, we would always go to galleries.
So, I started buying, but I started buying without any information whatsoever, only what I liked. And every time I brought something, I would find out more about the artist. That’s how my uncle did it, he would only buy something if he was really into the artist.
Gradually, it became a collection without me knowing it. I didn’t even consider myself a collector. People would ask to see my collection, and I would say “What? You mean the art hanging on my walls?” (laughing). I still find it difficult to accept the word but I guess I am because I buy all the time.
What is your favourite period?
I don’t have a favourite period, but I do love geometric abstraction. I am very eclectic in my taste, perhaps a product of all my moving around. I was born in Venezuela but I have lived in New York, Rome – where I studied art – Paris, London, and now Monaco. I have always been a bit of a gypsy.
I am interested in how you put the book together. Art is a very personal thing, so how did you get into the collector’s homes and how long did it take to put the book together?
This book took about three and a half years, while my first book Could Have, Would Have, Should Have took four years because it was a lot more writing. It was easier the second time around, but both books started from curiosity and wanting to understand what made the collectors like my uncle tick, what motivated them. I wanted to ask them questions and I wanted to know more about the process. I wanted to know about their adventures, emotions, commitments…
Ivor Braka’s entrance hall features a Tracey Emin neon, ‘I could have really loved you’, from 2007 above a metal table by Christopher Dresser. Over the door into the library hangs a masonic-inspired sign for the Sun Fire Office, the oldest insurance company in the world. Photo by Jean-François Jaussaud.
I also always wanted to write a book. When I was studying in Rome, I wrote poems. That didn’t stick but I knew I wanted to write, and it has always followed me. Then I decided that this is what I know about and this is what I should write about.
I have always liked anecdotes and listening to people talk and tell me their stories; it has always fascinated me – the interjectory and the journeys that these people were living. The other thing I noticed was that every collector was different from the other. They had completely different approaches to collecting. But for all of them, it was just a natural process, the celebration of living with art.
The images are captured perfectly by Jean-François Jaussaud, a renowned photographer, art director and producer. How did your collaboration come about?
Very serendipitously, I met Jean-François Jaussaud and he was talking to me about the books he was planning to do. We started discussing my idea and he wanted to do it right away. He said he had the passion to do it.
And he was fantastic. He works alone, which is really important because asking these people to open their homes and then telling them they are going to be invaded by five photographers over the space of six hours… they would freak out. But when they heard it was only going to be one person, they were much more comfortable.
In the office space of Christophe Van de Weghe, a Gino Sarfatti spiral chandelier from c. 1950 hangs above a 1951 Jean Prouvé table and a Jules Leleu armchair from c. 1955. Andy Warhol’s 1973 portrait of Marella Agnelli is in the background. Photo by Jean-François Jaussaud.
And why the title For Art’s Sake?
It is my youngest son who said I should call it For Art’s Sake, and I really fought for the name. I realised that collectors sacrifice so much of their lives, their time, in dealing with artists – nurturing them and making sure they are happy, putting them in the right collections and museums. They do a lot “for art’s sake”.
There is also the philanthropy – they are very generous towards museums and help their own artists to promote them and get them to where they think they should go. When a collector believes in an artist, they take them under their wing and that’s it. Sometimes the artist gets poached by someone else, and I can imagine how many sleepless nights they have just thinking of that.
But I learned that philanthropy was the common thread amongst collectors in my first and second books. I think that art is a way of communicating and doing good for the world. It brings us together, it builds bridges – which we need very much today – and that’s what I really got out of doing this book.
When you arrived in the Principality four years ago, Monaco was just starting to position itself in the global art scene, with major new art fairs like ArtMonteCarlo. What was your perspective of Monaco then compared to now?
I think there was a time when little was being done about art and then all of a sudden they realised that this is a captive audience; that people here have the means to appreciate art; that it is a small community and a small city but it has everything. And it was a correct move, Monaco was ripe for the taking. People here love to live with beautiful things.
Also in the home of Christophe Van de Weghe, Pablo Picasso’s Homme assis from 1969 is a focal point of one wall of the seating area of the library. The Charlotte Perriand cabinet also carries Henry Moore’s bronze Mother with Child on Knee from 1956 and Eva Zethraeus’s porcelain White-tipped Coral Mound from 2016. George Minne’s marble Le Petit blessé from 1898 is on a table between a pair of Jean-Michel Frank sheepskin armchairs, while Jean Dubuffet’s work on paper Sol (Earth) from 1960 is displayed on a bronze Arredoluce easel lamp. Photo by Jean-François Jaussaud.
Which artists have entered your collection recently?
A Brazilian artist called Erika Verzutti, who was exhibiting at the Pompidou in Paris. I have a penchant for Latin American art and I thought she was a very interesting artist, very intellectual. She is a conceptual artist and I love her concept, so I brought a wonderful piece of her art in Paris.
And Sean Scully – an Irish born American artist.
What art trends do you see happening over the next 10 years?
Technology will be very important. Through history, we know how art has evolved. We cannot avoid the technology behind the newer generations, the millennials – we need to watch what they are doing.
So, I believe the evolution of art is a natural evolution into technology. But the process of painting, sculpture, creating with your hands… that will never stop. We just have to add the factor that we are living in a technological era.
What are your thoughts on digital art?
It is very interesting. It could be too much of a gadget for me, but in the right hands, with the right artist… never say never.
It is a mistake to not recognise art, because it might pass you by. I don’t like to say “no”, because I might regret it in 20 years’ time.
For Art’s Sake, 384 pages and 270 illustrations, is available for purchase from the Grimaldi Forum for €85.
The Grimaldi Forum’s largest sponsor, CMB, has renewed its partnership for 2021, securing a world-class cultural programme for the year including the Alberto Giacometti summer expo.
From establishing Monaco’s first international gallery to the “golden era” of the 70s and 80s, Adriano Ribolzi shares his story with Monaco Life on the 100th anniversary of Maison Ribolzi.
Monaco Life goes behind the scenes of the Monte-Carlo Gala for Planetary Health to discover what it takes to put together the largest, most spectacular fundraising event in the Principality.
'For Art’s Sake' by Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian is as much a window into the minds of the world's greatest art collectors, as it is a door into their elaborate homes.
Monaco’s Antonio Salvatore has gained a Michelin star for the five-table fine dining restaurant he created less than 12 months ago in the middle of a worldwide pandemic.
The Grimaldi Forum’s largest sponsor, CMB, has renewed its partnership for 2021, securing a world-class cultural programme for the year including the Alberto Giacometti summer expo.
The historic Citadel in Villefranche-sur-Mer has been awarded €300,000 from the ‘Loto du Patrimoine 2020’ to make much-needed repairs, but more funds are still needed.
In December, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Choreographer-Director of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo, is offering the public a diverse and particularly generous programme. From December 10 to 21, as part of the new edition of the Monaco Dance Forum, the public will be able to discover The National Ballet of Marseille, with Extremalism - the body in revolt, by Emio Greco and Pieter C. Sholten; Wang Ramirez, with Monchichi; Peeping Tom with Moeder; Liquid Loft, Chris Haring, with Deep Dish, Chris Haring and Michel Blazy; LEV Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar, with OCD LOVE; Le Patin Libre, with Confidences, in partnership with the City Council of Monaco; and Danza Contemporanea Company of Cuba, with El Cristal by J. C Iglesias, Reversible by A. Lopez Ochoa and Mambo 3XXI by G. Cespedes.
Also as part of the Monaco Dance Forum Festival, the Bosio Pavilion, Higher School of Sculpture of the city of Monaco, will reflect on "The Place du Corps", at a colloquium. The Audiovisual Archives will propose the screening of the film "Chantons sous la pluie" at the Grimaldi Forum. Workshops and master classes will also be offered, in order to discover and experiment physically with the choreographic style of the companies invited to perform. Finally, public meetings with the artists will be organised throughout the season.
More information on venues and prices: +377 97 70 65 20.
Article first published November 29, 2016.
[caption id="attachment_6259" align="alignleft" width="702"] Vibeke Brask Thomsen, with charity book, created GenderHopes in 2011. Photo: Ed Wright Images[/caption]
GenderHopes' exhibition opening of “A Confident Girl” Tuesday night filled the first floor of the Columbus Hotel as more than 150 supporters came to admire 40 works of art, from paintings and sculptures to photographs.
Taking place on October 11, International Day of the Girl, this was the fourth successful fundraiser the Monaco-registered charity has put together to date. “It’s been a lot of work compared to the movie screenings we did in the past,” Vibeke Brask Thomsen, GenderHopes Founding Director, told Monaco Life, “but it’s worth it to see how artists symbolically captured the confident-girl theme.”
Some 25 renowned local (10 from Monaco) and international artists are showcasing unique pieces of art, available for purchase, with proceeds from all sales to go to the Akilah Institute for Women, a college in East Africa that enables young women to achieve economic independence and obtain leadership roles in the workplace and in society.
Monaco resident, Nick Danziger, has a spectacularly moving photo documentary of Mariatu, who grew up in Sierra Leone and had her arms brutally amputated at the age of 13 to prevent her from voting.
A coffee table book, featuring information about the Day of the Girl, the United Nations, the Akilah Institute and all the works on exhibit, is for sale (€40), and includes a preface by Robert Zoellick, former President of the World Bank.
[caption id="attachment_6260" align="alignnone" width="709"] Ms Isabelle Bonnal, Director of Education, Youth and Sports in Monaco, speaking at exhibition opening Tuesday. Photo: Ed Wright Images[/caption]
At the cocktail reception Tuesday evening, Ms Isabelle Bonnal, Director of Education, Youth and Sports spoke about Monaco’s commitment to higher education, and an alumna from the Akilah Institute shared her story as a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide to becoming a student at Akilah.
“It’s all about small little steps,” Vebeke, a Dane who grew up in Monaco, said passionately. “And to say to young girls, and boys, that they can become anything they want.”
Founded by Vibeke in 2011, GenderHopes has shaped new initiatives to end domestic violence working with the relevant parties including government, police, hospital, victims and social services.
“A Confident Girl” runs until October 30 at the Columbus Hotel. (All photos copyright Ed Wright Images.) Article orignially published October 12, 2016.