On March 16, the foremost exhibition space Palazzo Strozzi will reveal the first major show dedicated to Tracey Emin in Italy. Ahead of the showcase, Florence-based art collector Christian Levett talks us through the works he owns by the celebrated British contemporary artist.
Every morning when he’s in Florence, Christian wakes up in the company of artworks by Tracey Emin, an artist that he has the pleasure of knowing personally. To the left of his bed is a vast and visually impactful quilt, standing nearly three metres tall and two metres wide, handcrafted by the artist born in Croydon, near London. The Last of the Gold (2002) is Tracey Emin’s way of giving advice to women after her firsthand experience of having an abortion.
“There are 26 notes, one for each letter of the alphabet, all handwritten by Tracey,” explains Christian, who has generously welcomed me into his Florence home replete with works mostly by Abstract Expressionist women artists. Practical advice in hindsight about contraception appears alongside criticism of the NHS and raw emotions. As we gaze together at the brave and introspective work, I wonder how it feels to have such an intimate artwork in such an intimate space. “It can be a slightly disconcerting piece to have in the bedroom, but at the same time to have one of Tracey’s largest, colourful and most important blankets is an inspiring way to start the day. While the detail is explicit, emotive and not always something you want to see first thing in the morning, the overall pleasure derived from the artwork is overwhelmingly worth having when you wake up.”
In stark contrast, Leaving (2019), a delicate canvas by the artist occupies part of the adjacent wall, above Christian’s TV set in his bedroom. “I bought this one at Galleria Lorcan O’Neill in Rome, which represents Tracey. Interestingly, I had visited her for lunch at her house in Provence and she had just completed the painting of this work. I loved it at the time and I bought it when it came to Lorcan O’Neill just six months later.”
Having a personal relationship with the artist must surely mean that a collector views the artworks differently, given that it becomes less about your interpretation of a piece and more about your understanding of the artist’s intention during the creative process? “It definitely helps you to build a rapport with the artwork both intellectually and emotionally, particularly if they have explained it to you at some point.” Does Tracey Emin convey the same rawness when you meet her? “She’s the kind of person that wears her heart on her sleeve and that comes through in her artwork as well. There’s no filter.”
A hard-to-decipher tapestry hangs on the wall between the walk-in wardrobe and bathroom. “This is from a series of tapestries Tracey completed between 2012 and 2016, which were mostly entirely in black, but she also did a small number in different shades of blue, like this one that I find particularly beautiful. I bought this in 2012 during Frieze from Lehmann Malpin, which was her New York gallery at the time. Like a lot of Tracey’s work, it’s highly sexual, but it’s so abstract that a child could never work out what’s going on, so it’s safe to have around the house. Even for an adult, it’s quite difficult to make out what’s going on here.” A small framed gouache on paper titled I left you on the kitchen table I is simply framed next to the embroidered cloth. “When Tracey visited my house, she couldn’t believe it either, but there’s a watercolour with exactly the same scene, the sketch for the tapestry. I bought it four years later from White Cube in London. Normally there wouldn’t be a sketch and a tapestry made, and definitely not sold together. It was a serendipitous moment.”
A blanket, a painting, a tapestry and a watercolour: what defines Emin is her diversity. “She’s also a photographer. She’s written books. In recent times, she’s really expanded her art as a sculptor. One always has to admire artists that are producing in a large number of different mediums and not doing exactly the same thing over and over again. It shows you their quality and professionalism.”
Christian’s enthrallment for Tracey Emin’s work can also be seen at FAMM (Female Artists of the Mougins Museum), his gallery in southern France. “George Michael had a huge British art collection, which was sold at Christie’s after his death to raise money for his foundation. I bought the two Tracey Emins. One is a 2007 painting called Hurricane and the other is a 2002 blanket called Drunk to the Bottom of My Soul. It’s amazing to have two pieces in the collection by one of the most provocative artists of the last 40 years and owned by one of the most provocative musical artists of the last 40 years. They are two of the favourites among our visitors to the museum.”
Serving on the Palazzo Strozzi scientific committee, it’s largely thanks to Levett that we will soon have the privilege of experiencing Tracey Emin’s art at the foremost exhibition space. “Arturo Galansino was interested in my knowledge about female artists. I already knew Tracey and her studio manager, Harry Weller, so I introduced Arturo to the two of them. I was involved in the early discussions of putting the show together, and then Arturo, Harry and Tracey took over to curate the show in the way that they wanted it. That was also the case for the Helen Frankenthaler show as well, where I introduced Arturo to Elizabeth Smith, the head of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation.”
So, what can we expect from Sex and Solitude, the upcoming show at the Strozzi, which will be the artist’s first major institutional exhibition in Italy? “I haven’t seen the layout of the show, so I’m as excited as anybody else, if not more so, to actually see what it’s going to look like!”
