Emin’s masterpiece!
Forget that unmade bed, Tracey’s £12m home is a real work of art
FOR 30 years, the achingly fashionable Britart movement has been inextricably linked to the East End of London, transforming an unloved post-industrial area into the hippest corner of the capital.
Now Tracey Emin has signalled the end of that era by putting her home and studios there on the market.
And the £12 million it is expected to command dwarfs anything her works of art have fetched. Her record is the £2.5 million her notorious unmade bed, complete with cigarette butts and underwear, sold for in 2014.
The four-storey property in Spitalfields, known as Tenter Ground, is in decidedly better condition. She reportedly spent up to £4 million in 2008 turning it into her headquarters because she wanted to stop it becoming a restaurant or a hotel.
She has transformed it into a lavish ‘live/work space’ far removed from the traditional idea of a cramped artist’s garret. The basement boasts a 50ft heated swimming pool and steam room, while the upper floors, which are classed as the living area, i nclude t wo vast high- ceilinged rooms, a spacious kitchen/diner, a luxury bathroom and large balcony.
On the first floor, glass partitions have been used to create a series of private offices. The property is said to include ‘wonderful studio space’ with ‘an abundance of natural light’.
Tenter Ground was established in the 17th Century by Flemish weavers and was once used for making silk. The phrase ‘on tenterhooks’ comes from the practice of hanging fabric out to dry on hooks which can still be seen on the building’s exterior.
Emin did not live on the premises but at a nearby house. Her decision to sell and spend more time in Margate, where she grew up, will be seen as signalling the end of the area’s reputation as a hotbed for creativity as wealthier residents take over.
In recent years Emin – whose works also include a tent embroidered with the names of former lovers – has made no secret of the fact that she felt increasingly unwelcome in London.
In 2016, she said she felt ‘unwanted,’ when she was refused permission to expand Tenter Ground. She said: ‘I’m an international artist who hasn’t got enough room to swing a cat.’
Emin’s spokesman called the £12 million figure ‘incorrect’ but declined to comment further on the price.