Momart
Encyclopedia
Momart is a British
company specialising in the storage, transportation, and installation of works of art
. It has been owned by Falkland Islands Holdings
since 5 March 2008.
A major proportion of their business is maintaining (often delicate) artworks in a secure, climate-controlled environment. The company maintains two warehouse
facilities adapted for this task. Momart's clients include the Saatchi Gallery
, National Gallery
, Tate Modern
, Tate Britain
and Buckingham Palace
. The company received considerable media attention in 2004 when a fire spread to one of their warehouses from an adjacent unit, destroying the works in it, including works by Young British Artists
such as Tracey Emin
and Damien Hirst
, with the most notable work lost being Emin's 1995 piece Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995.
, east London.
The warehouse was in the centre of a large industrial building that also housed other businesses around the periphery.
The central warehouse was sublet from a household moving company. Arson investigators determined that burglars started the fire in an attempt to cover up the theft of consumer electronics from one of the other businesses in the building.
The blaze, which continued to smoulder for nearly a day, destroyed almost all of the artworks stored within. As well as works from other collections, items from the Saatchi collection of so-called Britart were lost. Charles Saatchi
later commented "Many of these pieces are great personal favourites and irreplaceable in British Art
." Some of the artists themselves were, however, more reticent; Tracey Emin
admitted "I'm upset, but I'm also upset about those whose wedding got bombed [in Iraq
, on May 19], and people being dug out from mud in the Dominican Republic
."
Other collectors who lost art treasures included the author Shirley Conran
and the artist Gillian Ayres
.
Art industry insiders noted that the insurance value of the works lost in the fire, particularly the "Britart
" works in Saatchi's collection, would be many times their initial purchase price, and that a comparable rise could be expected in the market values of the remaining (and future) works by artists whose works were lost. One art insurance specialist valued the lost work at £50m.
Uri Geller
visited the site "with a shovel and a roll of garden bin-liners" to salve the remains. Entitled "RIP YBA" the remains were housed in perspex containers as a memorial by the contemporary artist Stuart Semple
, as a commission by Geller. The work was subsequently offered to the Tate after several bids were rejected, creating a legal debate concerning the ownership of the remains from the fire.
Christopher Redgrave, son of William Redgrave
, whose major sculpture The Event was in the fire, visited twice and manage to retrieve over 30 out of 228 bronze figures, though cutting his hands badly in the process. He described the scene:
As far as is known he is the only person out of the artists or artists' relatives to have been to the site; he said, "this building was inappropriate for what they are doing. There's no way around that."
At Christmas, 2004, Momart commissioned the Chapman Brothers to design their Christmas corporate gift. They produced a spoof Momart zippo lighter. Dinos Chapman commented:
Since 1984 they have commissioned a well-known contemporary British artist to create a limited edition Christmas card which was given to their major clients.
The artists represented in past Christmas cards are:
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
company specialising in the storage, transportation, and installation of works of art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
. It has been owned by Falkland Islands Holdings
Falkland Islands Holdings
Falkland Islands Holdings plc or FIH is a British conglomerate which plays a key role in the economy of the Falkland Islands through the Falklands Islands Company...
since 5 March 2008.
A major proportion of their business is maintaining (often delicate) artworks in a secure, climate-controlled environment. The company maintains two warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
facilities adapted for this task. Momart's clients include the Saatchi Gallery
Saatchi Gallery
The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art, opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985 in order to exhibit his collection to the public. It has occupied different premises, first in North London, then the South Bank by the River Thames and currently in Chelsea. Saatchi's collection, and...
, National Gallery
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
, Tate Modern
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
, Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
and Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
. The company received considerable media attention in 2004 when a fire spread to one of their warehouses from an adjacent unit, destroying the works in it, including works by Young British Artists
Young British Artists
Young British Artists or YBAs is the name given to a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London, in 1988...
such as Tracey Emin
Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin RA is a British artist of English and Turkish Cypriot origin. She is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs ....
and Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
, with the most notable work lost being Emin's 1995 piece Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995.
The 2004 warehouse fire
In the evening of 24 May 2004 fire broke out in a Momart storage warehouse in LeytonLeyton
Leyton is an area of north-east London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, located north east of Charing Cross. It borders Walthamstow and Leytonstone; Stratford in Newham; and Homerton and Lower Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney....
, east London.
The warehouse was in the centre of a large industrial building that also housed other businesses around the periphery.
The central warehouse was sublet from a household moving company. Arson investigators determined that burglars started the fire in an attempt to cover up the theft of consumer electronics from one of the other businesses in the building.
The blaze, which continued to smoulder for nearly a day, destroyed almost all of the artworks stored within. As well as works from other collections, items from the Saatchi collection of so-called Britart were lost. Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi is the co-founder with his brother Maurice of the global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and led that business - the world's largest advertising agency in the 1980s - until they were forced out in 1995. In the same year the Saatchi brothers formed a new agency called M&C...
later commented "Many of these pieces are great personal favourites and irreplaceable in British Art
Art of the United Kingdom
The Art of the United Kingdom refers to all forms of visual art in or associated with the United Kingdom since its formation in 1707. For earlier periods, and some more detailed information on the post-1707 period, see English art, Scottish art, Welsh art and Irish art...
." Some of the artists themselves were, however, more reticent; Tracey Emin
Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin RA is a British artist of English and Turkish Cypriot origin. She is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs ....
admitted "I'm upset, but I'm also upset about those whose wedding got bombed [in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, on May 19], and people being dug out from mud in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
."
Other collectors who lost art treasures included the author Shirley Conran
Shirley Conran
-Background:Shirley Conran is a bestselling author, whose books include Lace, which was made into an 80s US miniseries and Superwoman. She has been a columnist for Vanity Fair, women's editor of The Daily Mail and a feature writer for The Observer newspaper.Conran was educated at the University...
and the artist Gillian Ayres
Gillian Ayres
Gillian Ayres, CBE is an English painter.-Early life and career:Ayres was born on 3 February 1930 in Barnes, London, the youngest of three sisters. Ayres started school when she was six. Her parents, a prosperous couple, sent her to Ibstock, a progressive school in Roehampton run on Fröbel...
.
Art industry insiders noted that the insurance value of the works lost in the fire, particularly the "Britart
Young British Artists
Young British Artists or YBAs is the name given to a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London, in 1988...
" works in Saatchi's collection, would be many times their initial purchase price, and that a comparable rise could be expected in the market values of the remaining (and future) works by artists whose works were lost. One art insurance specialist valued the lost work at £50m.
Uri Geller
Uri Geller
Uri Geller is a self-proclaimed psychic known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other supposed psychic effects. Throughout the years, Geller has been accused of using simple conjuring tricks to achieve the effects of psychokinesis and telepathy...
visited the site "with a shovel and a roll of garden bin-liners" to salve the remains. Entitled "RIP YBA" the remains were housed in perspex containers as a memorial by the contemporary artist Stuart Semple
Stuart Semple
Stuart Semple is a contemporary British artist and curator, based in London and Dorset. Semple's practice addresses ideas sparked by immersion in popular culture and combines contemporary figurative painting with pop art.-Life and career:...
, as a commission by Geller. The work was subsequently offered to the Tate after several bids were rejected, creating a legal debate concerning the ownership of the remains from the fire.
Christopher Redgrave, son of William Redgrave
William Redgrave
William Redgrave was a British sculptor. His major work The Event was mostly destroyed in the 2004 Momart warehouse fire....
, whose major sculpture The Event was in the fire, visited twice and manage to retrieve over 30 out of 228 bronze figures, though cutting his hands badly in the process. He described the scene:
As far as is known he is the only person out of the artists or artists' relatives to have been to the site; he said, "this building was inappropriate for what they are doing. There's no way around that."
At Christmas, 2004, Momart commissioned the Chapman Brothers to design their Christmas corporate gift. They produced a spoof Momart zippo lighter. Dinos Chapman commented:
We didn't have to think very hard. Our work burns, the company comes to us: there's a trajectory. What else could we do, but come up with the idea of a Zippo lighter with the word Momart on it?.
Works known lost in fire
- Patrick CaulfieldPatrick CaulfieldPatrick Joseph Caulfield, CBE, RA was an English painter and printmaker known for his bold canvases, which often incorporated elements of Photorealism within a pared down scene.-Life and work:...
— Hedone's - Helen ChadwickHelen ChadwickHelen Chadwick was a British conceptual artist.-Life and work:Chadwick studied at Croydon College of Art, The Faculty of Arts and Architecture Brighton Polytechnic and then at the Chelsea School of Art....
— Cyclops Cameo', Opal and eight other works - Jake and Dinos ChapmanJake and Dinos ChapmanIakovos "Jake" Chapman and Konstantinos "Dinos" Chapman are English visual artists, often known as the Chapman Brothers, who work together as a collaborative sibling duo...
— Hell - Michael Craig-MartinMichael Craig-MartinMichael Craig-Martin RA is a contemporary conceptual artist and painter. He is noted for his fostering of the Young British Artists, many of whom he taught, and for his conceptual artwork, An Oak Tree...
— Mood Change One - Dexter DalwoodDexter DalwoodDexter Dalwood is an artist based in London. He attended Humphry Davy School in his early life. Dalwood received his BA from Central St Martins College of Art, London, in 1985...
— Che Guevara's Mountain Hideaway - Tracey EminTracey EminTracey Karima Emin RA is a British artist of English and Turkish Cypriot origin. She is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs ....
- Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995 (1995)
- The Last Thing I Said Is Don't Leave Me Here (The Hut) (1999)
- Patrick HeronPatrick HeronPatrick Heron , was an English painter, writer and designer, based in St. Ives, Cornwall.- Early life :...
— 50 works - Damien HirstDamien HirstDamien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
— several paintings, unknown other works in addition to works by other artists, owned by Hirst - Craigie HorsfieldCraigie HorsfieldCraigie Horsfield is an English artist. In 1996 he was nominated for the annual Turner Prize.Horsfield described his work as, "intimate in scale but its ambition is, uncomfortable as I find it, towards an epic dimension, to describe the history of our century, and the centuries beyond, the...
— Carrer Muntaner, Barcelona - Gary HumeGary HumeGary Stewart Hume is an English artist. His work is strongly identified with the YBA artists who came to prominence in the early-1990s. In 1996, Hume was nominated for the Turner Prize, but lost out to Douglas Gordon. Hume was elected a Royal Academician in 2001.-Life and work:Hume was born in...
— Dolphin Painting No1 - Sarah LucasSarah LucasSarah Lucas is an English artist. She is part of the generation of Young British Artists who emerged during the 1990s...
— Down Below - Martin MaloneyMartin MaloneyMartin Maloney is a contemporary English artist.-Life and work:Martin Maloney was born in London. He attended the University of Sussex 1980–83, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design 1988–91 and Goldsmiths College 1991–93.Martin Maloney practises deliberately "bad"...
— Sony Levi and at least 19 other works - Tim Noble and Sue WebsterTim Noble and Sue WebsterTimothy "Tim" Noble and Susan "Sue" Webster , are two British artists who work as a collaborative duo, and are associated with the post-YBA generation of artists.-Early lives and careers:...
— Miss Understood and Mr Meanor - Chris OfiliChris OfiliChris Ofili is a Turner Prize winning British painter best known for artworks referencing aspects of his Nigerian heritage, particularly his incorporation of elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists, and is now based in Trinidad.-Early life:Ofilli was born in Manchester. He had a...
— Afrobluff - Richard Patterson — Motocrosser II
- William RedgraveWilliam RedgraveWilliam Redgrave was a British sculptor. His major work The Event was mostly destroyed in the 2004 Momart warehouse fire....
— The Event - Gavin TurkGavin TurkGavin Turk is a British artist and one of the Young British Artists . He often uses his own image in life-size sculptures of famous people.-Life and work:...
— Floater - Rachel WhitereadRachel WhitereadRachel Whiteread, CBE is an English artist, best known for her sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. She won the annual Turner Prize in 1993—the first woman to win the prize....
— unknown
Momart Christmas card series
Since 1984 they have commissioned a well-known contemporary British artist to create a limited edition Christmas card which was given to their major clients.
The artists represented in past Christmas cards are:
- 1984 — Bruce McLeanBruce McLeanBruce McLean is a Scottish performance artist and painter.McLean was born in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1961 to 1963, and at St Martin's School of Art, London,from 1963 to 1966...
- 1985 — Richard Wentworth
- 1986 — David InshawDavid InshawDavid Inshaw is a British artist who sprang to public attention in 1973 when his painting The Badminton Game was exhibited at the ICA Summer Studio exhibition in London...
- 1987 — Tim HeadTim HeadTim Head is a British artist.Born in London, He studied at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 1965 to 1969, where his teachers included Richard Hamilton and Ian Stephenson. His contemporary students included Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry...
- 1988 — Gillian AyresGillian AyresGillian Ayres, CBE is an English painter.-Early life and career:Ayres was born on 3 February 1930 in Barnes, London, the youngest of three sisters. Ayres started school when she was six. Her parents, a prosperous couple, sent her to Ibstock, a progressive school in Roehampton run on Fröbel...
- 1989 — Barry FlanaganBarry FlanaganBarry Flanagan RA OBE was a Welsh sculptor, best known for his bronze statues of hares.-Biography:Barry Flanagan was born in Prestatyn, North Wales. He studied at Birmingham College of Art and Crafts before going on to St. Martin's School of Art in London in 1964. Flanagan graduated in 1966 and...
- 1990 — Bill WoodrowBill WoodrowBill Woodrow is a British sculptor.Woodrow was one of a number of British sculptors to emerge in the late 1970s, the others including Richard Deacon and Tony Cragg....
- 1991 — Eduardo PaolozziEduardo PaolozziSir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi, KBE, RA , was a Scottish sculptor and artist. He was a major figure in the international art sphere, while, working on his own interpretation and vision of the world. Paolozzi investigated how we can fit into the modern world to resemble our fragmented civilization...
- 1992 — Helen ChadwickHelen ChadwickHelen Chadwick was a British conceptual artist.-Life and work:Chadwick studied at Croydon College of Art, The Faculty of Arts and Architecture Brighton Polytechnic and then at the Chelsea School of Art....
- 1993 — Anthony CaroAnthony CaroSir Anthony Alfred Caro, OM, CBE is an English abstract sculptor whose work is characterised by assemblages of metal using 'found' industrial objects.-Background and early life:...
- 1994 — Paula RegoPaula RegoPaula Rego is a painter born in Portugal although she is a naturalised British citizen.-Biography:Rego was born in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, the daughter of an electrical engineer who worked for the Marconi Company. Although this gave her a comfortable middle class home, the family was...
- 1995 — Peter BlakePeter Blake (artist)Sir Peter Thomas Blake, KBE, CBE, RDI, RA is an English pop artist, best known for his design of the sleeve for the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He lives in Chiswick, London, UK.-Career:...
- 1996 — Richard Deacon
- 1997 — Damien HirstDamien HirstDamien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
- 1998 — Langlands & Bell
- 1999 — Tracey EminTracey EminTracey Karima Emin RA is a British artist of English and Turkish Cypriot origin. She is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs ....
- 2000 — Gary HumeGary HumeGary Stewart Hume is an English artist. His work is strongly identified with the YBA artists who came to prominence in the early-1990s. In 1996, Hume was nominated for the Turner Prize, but lost out to Douglas Gordon. Hume was elected a Royal Academician in 2001.-Life and work:Hume was born in...
- 2001 — Mark WallingerMark WallingerMark Wallinger is a British artist, best known for his sculpture for the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, Ecce Homo , and State Britain , a recreation at Tate Britain of Brian Haw's protest display outside parliament. He won the Turner Prize in 2007...
- 2002 — Howard HodgkinHoward HodgkinSir Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin CH, CBE is a British painter and printmaker. His work is most often associated with abstraction.-Early life:...
- 2003 — Lucian FreudLucian FreudLucian Michael Freud, OM, CH was a British painter. Known chiefly for his thickly impasted portrait and figure paintings, he was widely considered the pre-eminent British artist of his time...
- 2004 — Paul McDevitt
- 2005 — David HockneyDavid HockneyDavid Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
- 2006 — Ron MueckRon MueckRonald "Ron" Mueck is an Australian hyperrealist sculptor working in the United Kingdom.-Early work:Ron Mueck began his career working on the Australian children's television program Shirl's Neighbourhood...
- 2007 — Sarah LucasSarah LucasSarah Lucas is an English artist. She is part of the generation of Young British Artists who emerged during the 1990s...
- 2008 — Richard Hughes
- 2009 — Catherine YassCatherine YassCatherine Yass is an English artist.Catherine Yass was born in 1963 in London and in her early years lived in Hampstead. She later studied at the Slade School of Art, London and then at Hochschule der Künste, Berlin...
- 2010 — Joel Peers & Toby Ziegler
External links
- Momart website
- New art rises from wreckage of warehouse (Telegraph)
- BBC story on warehouse fire
- Warehouse was burgled before fire (BBC story)
- Why so many significant pieces of art were put at risk. (Guardian story)
- Spoof Momart Zippo is hottest present of year (Guardian story)
- William Regrave triptych and salvaged head