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THE ART OF THE DEAL: COLLECTOR CHARLES SAATCHI COULDN’T ASK FOR A BETTER AD THAN ‘SENSATION’

AN uproar over the “Sensation” exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum is raising as many questions about the collection’s owner, adman Charles Saatchi, as it is about the merits of paintings speckled with cow dung.

In the art world, there are competing images of the 56-year-old Saatchi: He’s either a master manipulator who foments controversy to boost his fame and fortune, or he’s simply a passionate collector who buys what he likes – resale prices be damned.

Motives aside, it’s apparent the hubbub over the provocative show is a no-lose proposition for the reclusive millionaire, particularly if the publicity pumps up the market for artists whose work Saatchi collects.

“Charles Saatchi is clearly the big winner in this,” said Bruce Wolmer, editor of Art & Auction magazine.

“The controversy has gone beyond what he and everyone else had anticipated, but it seems to me that controversy has been one of the strategies of this exhibition. Saatchi is not a great advertising man for nothing.”

Born in Baghdad and raised in London, Saatchi made his money as the creative head of the family advertising firm, but he built his reputation by buying a massive collection of modern art.

He started with contemporary classics – mid- to late-20th-century pieces such as Warhols – then snapped up 1980s American artists like Julian Schnabel. Later, he got rid of much of his early collection in a 1990 sale.

His current obsession is a group of Brits – so-called Young British Artists such as Damien Hirst and Chris Ofili, both of whose works are on display in “Sensation.” Saatchi owns more than 2,000 pieces by an estimated 350 artists.

“He is the most exciting, invigorating person in the contemporary art scene,” said Thomas Hoving, ex-director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“He’s collected hundreds and hundreds of artists. He started a beautiful gallery. He coined the word neurotic realism. He’s been an amazing patron at a time when patrons don’t exist.”

And he’s generated plenty of controversy. Shows at his London gallery have long made a splash in the British art world, but with “Sensation,” Wolmer said, “the whisperings and mutterings have turned to screams.”

When it debuted at London’s staid Royal Academy in 1997, the “Sensation” show inflamed tempers with a portrait of child killer Myra Hindley. A year later, a sale of works by the artists in the show netted $2.6 million.

Though the money went to charity, the sale was considered a boon for Saatchi, since it established a market and values for the largely untested artists in his stable.

Brooklyn Museum’s decision to take on “Sensation” has triggered criticism that the museum is being used by Saatchi and Christie’s, the auction house that is sponsoring the exhibit. Christie’s also gets fat commissions from the collector’s sales.

How much of an impact the furor might have on sales is anyone’s guess, but there’s uniform agreement that it can’t do any harm.

“I don’t think it’s ever a bad thing to have a show banned,” said “Sensation” artist Dinos Chapman, whose sculptures depict children in grotesque poses and with misplaced sex organs. “It’s going to make all the work in the show slightly more interesting.”

And more valuable? “Well, I think it will have a positive effect rather than a negative effect.”

“He’s probably sitting on the sidelines, rubbing his hands together,” said Andrew Wilson, associate editor of Art Monthly in London. “The effect of the notoriety is the art becomes much more of a common currency. Collectors start to buy who wouldn’t have.”