BOND ART BENIAMINO LEVI. Beniamino Levi with the Dalí sculpture Unicorn

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1 BOND ART 72 BENIAMINO LEVI Beniamino Levi with the Dalí sculpture Unicorn

2 BOND ART 73 MR BENIAMINO LEVI IS INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN AS AN ART DEALER, CURATOR, COLLECTOR, AND CONNOISSEUR. HE IS THE CUSTODIAN OF THE LARGEST AND MOST PRESTIGIOUS COLLECTION OF SALVADOR DALI SCULPTURES AND DEALT PERSONALLY WITH SUCH ARTISTS AS PICASSO, DALI', FONTANA, CARRÀ, DE CHIRICO... Le Palais de la Bourse, Marseille (France) 1990 I have been familiar with Beniamino Levi as far back as I can remember. It is a persistent encountering, echoing the "Persistence of Memory" by the surrealist master. Mr. Levi has always looked the same: a beautiful gentleman from another time. He doesn t talk a lot, but when he does, it is with a determined but tender voice that catches your attention. Every word is measured, never one superfluous. When he gives his word, he doesn't take it back. His movements are gentle and slow: a graceful native of the jungle of the art world. Since 1990 a part of his collection can be visited at the permanent exhibition Espace Dali" in Montmartre, Paris. BOND MAGAZINE: HOW DO YOU THINK OF YOURSELF? ARE YOU AN ENTREPRENEUR, A COLLECTOR, OR A PRO- MOTER OF ART? BENIAMINO LEVI: I have been a bit of everything in different periods of my life. I started as a gallerist in The internet didn t exist then with its power to uncover everything about everyone immediately. In the 50s you needed the drive to go out and find artists with whom you could achieve results. The art business was mainly in Europe and USA and doing business was easier and focused.

3 Buste de Femme Rétrospectif, 1977

4 BOND ART 75 Homage to Terpsichore, Probably due to globalization, it has become collective. I was used to going to New York, choosing the artists in whom I believed and promoting them in Italy. During the crises of 1974 I realized I was tired of the meticulous work of a gallerist which means selecting the right artists, working with them every day, organizing their exhibitions and realizing the catalogues. In the remaining time you have to maintain your relationships with collectors. I organized exhibitions of Miro, of Picasso, of Kandinsky, Le Corbusier and about Surrealism amongst others. In that year I became an entrepreneur in art, I moved from Milan to live between Lugano and Paris and began my travelling in India and Africa. My trips were intentional research: absorbing and comprehending the culture I was visiting. I am fascinated by the craftsmanship and the capacity for transformation of the form and substance of the base material. I discovered my desire to possess, at least for a short while, beautiful objects, so I opened a workshop in India where local handcraft workers could create fabulous objects that I later sold in Paris. Nowadays a gallerist has to swim in this water: contemporary artists are launched and sustained by the entrepreneurs of the art world as there are many today. BM: IT SEEMS THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO TRANSFORM ALL YOUR OPPORTUNITIES INTO SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS. WHAT IS THE PROJECT THAT GAVE YOU THE GREATEST SATISFAC- TION? BL: Finding 3 complete sets of original sketches by Picasso gave me the greatest satisfaction. I have been in the artworld a long time, so people contact me if they want an evaluation or if they want to sell or buy interesting pieces. I received a fax from the States asking me to buy three sets of newly discovered sketches: they belonged to Picasso's driver's wife. I enjoyed starting this new adventure: after 2 years of research and battles to receive the droit moral from the heirs to publish them, I could finally show them to the public: in the Palazzo Trussardi in Milan first, then Austria, Korea and The project I would have most loved to complete was with Warhol. I should not have given up with Warhol's secretary. Andy was enthusiastic about doing a portrait of Dali but the negotiation with his secretary didn t meet my expectations, the price was way out of my budget. I regret this as it would have been a great opportunity to enhance my collection having these two controversial but outstanding artists together. BM: YOU WERE IN ITALY DURING THE PERSECUTION, DID YOU FIND OBSTRUCTION OR SUPPORT BECAUSE YOU HAD LIVED THROUGH IT? BL: I was a child during the persecution so my artistic career was not directly influenced by it. It marked me though: when I was 10 I escaped like a fox and ate celeriac in the caves, moving with my family from one village to the next to avoid being found, but recently I've been over it again and my awareness of belonging to a peculiar tradition is stronger. Being trained in analysis and introspection was very helpful in maintaining a clear vision of my goals and in keeping stability in the art world, as well as maintaining contact with a lot of artists. In the States there is a large Jewish community and most people in the art business are Jewish, this facilitated my contacts and relationships, a very important factor in the art business. BM: WHAT WOULD YOU STILL LIKE TO ACHIEVE? WHAT S YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE? BL: There is discussion about moving the age of retirement from 60 to 65. I am largely past it, may I go on holiday? I d like to take a holiday and do what I m interested in and what takes my fancy. Always art related of course! I love buying the works I like, I like to work with my hands and my brain. Some year ago I even started pottery! I am fascinated by the transformation of form and substance and I think people who manually transform material have greater worth. Today sculptural work is more researched than in the 60s. Taste evolves. During my trips to Africa and New Guinea in the 70s and 80s I collected a colossal number of antique tribal sculptures, which I then dispersed through auctions in the 90s. In a following trip I was fascinated by the handcraft skills of a group of local sculptors. They created for me giant stone sculptures which I brought to Milan with enormous difficulty. But at that time they were not understood. BM: YOUR LIFE HAS DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY INSPIRED MANY PEOPLE THROUGH THE EXHIBITIONS YOU CURATE ALL OVER THE WORLD. BL: I am touched. I am deeply honored to have

5 Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai (China) 2009

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7 BOND ART 78 Cabinet Antropomorphique, 1982 been able to bring together artworks that inspire others as I was inspired: that's a great achievement, although I must exclude myself as the artworks themselves are Dali's. My role was to push Dali s dream of giving tri-dimensionality to his bi-dimensional visions. I often act instinctively. I make a lot of mistakes with that, but with instinctive things you don t think too much about it, your instinct guides your decisions. BM: IS THERE SOMEONE YOU RECOGNIZED AS A LEADER AND FROM WHOM YOU LEARNED? BL: My wife Roberta. She is what I m not. She is organized and more rational than I. It s thanks her that I was able to create what I did, she was decisive. I am the impulsive decision maker, she is the rational organizer. BM: YOU MET THE ALL LEADING COLLECTORS AND FIGURES OF THE ART WORLD OF THE LAST CENTURY. IS THERE SOME- ONE YOU WOULD STILL LIKE TO MEET? WITH WHOM WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEND A WEEKEND? BL: Someone spiritual. I have met some Hindu thinkers, they have an incredible capacity for introspection. I couldn t go only for one weekend, I would go to live in India in a little village for the rest of my life. As a concession to my wife I m happy not to do it. BM: WHAT DO YOU GET PASSIONATE ABOUT TODAY? MUSIC, ECONOMY, SCIENCE, SPORT? BL: If I were a different age, by which I mean in better physical condition, I would continue with the journeys of my forties. I still dream of travelling through places less known... if they still exist! I never travelled just for the sake of the trip, I like the discovery. Everywhere I went I started something, most often a new collection. I put a lot of collections together, I enjoyed having the pieces as well as selling them when they were complete. This job encourages me to possess, but then I loose interest and need to move on, I need to start a new journey, a new study or project. In every journey I was looking for something. Of every collection I put together, I keep something and I separate myself from the rest. The excitement of the discovery and the possession of it is enhancing, the rest to me is boring. BM: WHERE IS THE EDGE BETWEEN ART AND THE ART BUSI- NESS? WHERE IS THE ART SCENE HAPPENING TODAY? BL: I'm not in the art scene since the 90s. To be in the stream you need to be very passionate about it and to be curious. It's hard work: you have to go through galleries, you have to read a lot, visit artists' studios and travel like a fool, nowadays through India, China, Egypt, Russia, South America, because the art market today involves artists from these countries too. I don't have the energy for this anymore. There is much more speculation now, an artist must put himself in the hands of big merchants who will give him the right exposure to arrive. In my time an artist had to pursue his career for at least 25 years. I ask myself what kind of future is reserved for these new artists, but as art reflects society, even the art market has evolved as quick but superficial. I'll admit that I don't have the right tools to appreciate the contemporary artistic expression. BM: ART AND TECHNOLOGY ARE BOTH EXPRESSIONS OF THE AGE. CAN YOU SEE OF YOURSELF IN A VIRTUAL WORLD? BL: No, I'm too realistic for that. Technology will bring major advantages for humankind, but will drive huge mental metamorphosis. A few days ago in the grocery store, the young man at the till had to use a calculator to find out how much change to give. I was shocked. Computers have massive storage and take away the problem of remembering things on our behalf. I am happy not to belong to this generation, I still use my brain to calculate, remember and... think! BM: YOU LIVE BETWEEN DIFFERENT EUROPEAN CITIES. WHERE DO YOU LIKE TO BE? WHERE WOULD YOU LIVE IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE NOW? BL: I live in Lugano and during the summer I like to stay in Ibiza, a place I discovered thanks to a friend of ours. From time to time we stay in Paris, where I love to eat "Chez Josephine" and "Chez George" and in Milan, the place I was born. If just one place, I would like to live in New York, it's so vibrant! BM: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED FOR? BL: People forget if they do remember, then I would like to be remembered for my loyalty. When I promise, I do everything to fulfil. It s a lifestyle. BM: WHAT ARTWORK WOULD YOU LIKE TO OWN? BL: The are so many! I really can't choose. My wife suggests a Picasso, and she is probably right. Art is both provocation and seduction, it first provokes and then seduces.

8 Dalí sculpture Alice in Wonderland Courchevel (France)