REVIEW | Once Upon a Time in London – Saatchi Yates, London

Once Upon a Time in London at Saatchi Yates aims to celebrate London, its artists, and institutions, highlighting ‘how the city has evolved but remains a constant beating heart of ground- breaking art.’

But it’s so much less about the city of London and just a chance for Saatchi Yates to show off their roster of emerging artists with Saatchi legacy artists as a backdrop. If you can think of a famous artist in the last 50 years, they’re probably in the show, some drawn from public and private collections, such as Francis Bacon’s Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer (1963) and Lucian Freud’s Head of a Man (1968). I’ll admit, the dialogue of early works by the ‘greats’ and young artists now has a nice undertone to it, framing them as a new generation of YBAs.

Do I like the show, despite it being less curated than their description makes it out to be?

I do, for the super simple reason that puts most of London’s biggest names all in one giant room, something which typically only exists in auction houses. Museums don’t tend to arrange their collections this way anymore because there are more interesting, forward-thinking narratives to be spun.

There are certainly unusual things to be seen. Three copper etching plates by Freud hang above Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s Sermons for Heathens (2016) in a section themed around the figurative body. I loved the contrast between Samuel Ross’ Body With Land sculpture (2022) and the painted works.

Meanwhile, a central section on landscapes and urban environments featured Michael Andrews’ overwhelming The Colony Room Landscape (1959) and David Hockney’s Arizona (1964). Also, who could miss the charming Champagne Kid (Sitting) (2013) by Yinka Shonibare.