Art of reinvention: Victoria Beckham teams up with Sotheby’s as curator

A customer in the Victoria Beckham flagship store in Mayfair in London looks astutely up at a Richard Prince painting. The untitled work by the American artist depicts four figures in bold acrylic and oil, and is estimated to be worth up to $600,000 (£480,000). “Richard Prince reinvented himself during every decade of his career; he always challenged himself to do something completely different,” Haleigh Stoddard, Sotheby’s head of contemporary curations, says.

It’s a description that is entirely befitting of Beckham herself. From Spice Girl and Wag, to a fashion designer revered for her contemporary command of quiet luxury, Beckham is known as the queen of reinvention. Now she is trying her hand at something different once more: art curation.

Beckham, 50, has teamed up with Sotheby’s to host an exhibition of work by some of the biggest names of the 20th and 21st century, including Yoshitomo Nara, George Condo, Keith Haring, Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Joan Mitchell, Gerhard Richter and Yves Klein. The artworks will be on public view until 10 February before they go under the hammer in New York and London or are sold privately.

Art, Beckham has said, has always been a source of inspiration. “Collecting is about more than just investing or acquiring beautiful objects. It’s about finding pieces that bring us real joy.”

On a rainy Friday morning, there is joy in the way the childlike playfulness of the images sit in contrast to Beckham’s tailored silhouettes and muted shades.

The store is not overrun with customers but it certainly has the air and look of a gallery. Located within a three-storey Georgian townhouse on Dover Street, it features a cutaway floor and a cast-lattice coffered ceiling. The walls are a bespoke green created by the luxury interior designer Rose Uniacke just for Beckham.

On a table, next to a collection of handbags and jewellery, sits a pile of leaflets, and half a dozen visitors study them as they saunter around the store taking pictures to a soundtrack of uptempo jazz. One shop assistant says while they’ve not had any inquiries about purchases of art, they have noticed an increase in customers.

“For us, it’s incredible to show these works in a totally new context,” Stoddard says. “People are so used to seeing artworks on white walls in galleries or museums. A space like this almost feels like a home.

“We’re always trying to engage new, younger collectors. People who come into this store, who might be interested in Victoria Beckham’s design aesthetic, might also love a George Condo or a Yoshimoto Nara painting.”

Although she has hit the headlines this week, Beckham has been collecting for several years and collaborated with Sotheby’s on a number of occasions to exhibit work in her store. Other projects have included hosting a 2021 takeover of ultra-bright neon installations by Chila Burman.

The designer has said she was first introduced to collecting when she saw an “enormous Julian Schnabel” in the dining room of her friend Elton John’s house in the south of France and “being so mesmerised by it”.

Since then she and her husband, David, have gone on a journey to “educate” themselves about art – first purchasing a piece from Schnabel’s Sonanbul series, before expanding their collection to include works by Yayoi Kusama, Nan Goldin, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Nara. They are also regulars at Art Basel Miami.

Stoddard praises the designer’s “incredible curiosity” when picking the works on display. The Nara painting, entitled Cosmic Eyes (in the Milky lane), depicts a cartoonish, wide-faced young girl staring at the viewer with sparkly eyes – a reminder that “things are never as simple as they look”, according to Beckham.

Nearby is an abstract pastel by Mitchell, and a painting from Klein’s most revolutionary body of work: International Klein Blue monochromes, which Beckham called “one of the most iconic colours of the 20th century”. Works elsewhere include Basquiat’s Red Joy and Condo’s Artist and Muse, believed to depict Picasso and his muse, Sylvette.

Together, the value of the works is in the tens of millions, with the most expensive, Cosmic Eyes, estimated to be worth in the region of $6m. Security, undoubtedly, has been a foremost concern, and Stoddard says they have “a very bespoke security plan” in place – although she cannot expand on that.

The exhibition comes at a time when collaborations between art, fashion and music are on the rise. Louis Vuitton has collaborated with Richard Prince and the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, and Dior regularly collaborates with artists to put its own spin on the house’s Lady Dior bag. Last year, FKA Twigs unveiled a huge art project at Sotheby’s; Skepta also curated an auction there.

These collaborations provide consumers and audiences “with a perceived sense of connoisseurship”, according to Dr Federica Carlotto of Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

“There’s more of an appetite for the art world to embrace fashion and possible collaborations,” Stoddard says.

“It’s an interesting opportunity for people to learn more, to dive into a world that’s sometimes not as accessible. Seeing contemporary art in a space like this can be much more inviting than a museum, or walking into an intimidating auction house.”