Complaint filed against Saatchi

Charles Saatchi -- the advertising mogul who turns young British artists into international stars by buying their work in bulk and displaying it in a museum-like London gallery -- is no stranger to art-world controversy. But one of his adversaries has upped the ante by taking his grievance to the British government.

London art dealer Charles Thomson has submitted a formal complaint to the Office of Fair Trading, alleging that Saatchi’s tactics are monopolistic and anti-competitive.

In a five-page letter, Thomson -- who promotes relatively conservative art, dubbed Stuckist by those who claim that his artists are stuck in the past -- stated that Saatchi abuses his position and unfairly squeezes out the competition. But what appears to have pushed Thomson over the edge is that his former wife, Stella Vine, a stripper turned painter, is being hailed as one of Saatchi’s new discoveries.

Thomson told the London Independent that he, not Saatchi, had nurtured Vine’s talent. “As soon as Stella got in the media promoted by Saatchi I realized that we were being airbrushed out of the picture,” he told the newspaper. “How can I get my view across when I don’t have a massive marketing firm to issue stuff that gets printed worldwide simultaneously?”

A spokesman for the Office of Fair Trading said an investigation would be launched if there are grounds for suspicion that Saatchi has breached the British Competition Art.