South Bank Saatchi

First we had the Guggenheim Las Vegas (which opened last October) and now we will have Thameside Saatchi. The expansion of the global brand has been mastered by Krens of the Guggenheim. Historically, the Guggenheim New York has rivalled MoMA by extending its franchise abroad, which MoMA could not do. Tate Modern suffers from the same restriction on a different scale: although it can spread around the UK, with Tate St Ives and Tate Liverpool, Saatchi could develop its competition with Tate Modern by overseas branding and franchising. It seems a logical next step, with Hirst, Whiteread, the Chapmans and Tracey Emin to show. First challenge your opponent on his own ground (under way) and then where he can’t reach you. Tate Modern will have to learn to live with the Saatchi phenomenon and not on a live-in basis.