ABOVE: County Hall, London, home to the Saatchi gallery—but not for long. After a series of disputes with the landlord, Chas is moving the collection to Sloane Square.

Chilly relations between landlords and tenants are nothing new; but when the landlord is a tempestuous Japanese real-estate titan and the tenant is advertising mogul-cum-21st-century-Medici Charles Saatchi, we must take notice. It seems tensions have been steadily worsening at County Hall, the london building which leases space to the Saatchi Gallery, and things have reached their breaking point. The gallery announced this week that it is packing up and leaving because of its treatment by Makoto Okamoto, who runs the European arm of the Shirayama Shokusan Corp, which it purchased County Hall from the city 12 years ago.

Okamoto and Saatchi have a history of quarrelling over the site, and accusations of vandalism flew after a sculpture by American artist Duane Hanson was spit upon and had its nose broken off. Okamoto also changed the locks on the gallery’s disabled washrooms and reportedly storms around the building, on one occasion saying, to a concerned security guard who asked whether he was allowed to be there, “Tell your manager to fuck off. I am the fucking owner of this place!” Having had it up to here with this behaviour, Saatchi and company are decamping in 2007 for a new renovated space in the Duke of York’s building in Chelsea. Mr. Okamoto will surely be all sunshine and smiles for the next two years of the gallery’s tenancy. Right?

LINK: The Independent > Feud with landlord prompts Saatchi to quit the South Bank