Ninety-five years!
Simple genetics. I never played sports. I just worked.
Art marcher?
Yes, in 1956 I opened the Levi gallery on Via Montenapoleone in Milan, until the 80s.
What kind of art did he exhibit?
Modern and contemporary art: Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Lucio Fontana... And the great Dalí!
Talk to me about Picasso.
great artist astute cynical Abuser of women. Poor conversationalist. Much less intelligent than Dalí.
Warhol's Parli'm.
His art is cheerful and moved well to sell. Other artists remain in the shadows due to social ineptitude.
Tell me about Dalí.
I bought him the rights to serialize his sculptures. He suggested it to me, and it worked: I continue to sell copies.
Did you buy any other works from him?
The rights of two of his firms, one of them the crowned firm.
Do you have your originals?
I have 29 original sculptures and another twenty of the multiples, that is, authenticated copies.
What is your favorite piece?
A dog with a soft watch on his back.
Were they good friends?
We got along well. He was very smart! He talked to me about astronomy, mythology, genetics, geometry, mathematics... He illustrated works by masters of universal literature: he read them all! And he wrote very well.
When did they last see each other?
In his house in Portlligat. I brought a contract signed by both of us to remind him that he owed me the dog part. Dalí was already ill, Gal·la received me...
Was it as terrible as it says?
He kept me waiting for an hour outside, under a fair midday August sun.
...
He received me and wanted to see the contract: I gave it to him and he tore it to pieces. "It's a photocopy, nothing happens", I said.
And Dalí, what did he say?
He appeared in a dressing gown with a nurse, recently operated: "Talk to Sabater, he will fix it," she told me, weakly. I never saw him again.
And did Sabater fix it?
All right. Dalí trusted Sabater, who I saw pull down the master's fly and remove his sparrow to urinate.
What do you value most about Dalí?
The depth of ideas and the artistic passion: if I asked him to modify a sculpture he would get angry. Dalí didn't understand money, it was Gala's business: in the end she helped me.
You had a good time...
A lot! More than a hundred exhibitions with more than twelve million visitors around the world, for sixty years...
What is Beniamino's name?
Benjamin, in Italian. Hebrew, like the surname Levi: Milanese Jewish family.
What did his father do?
He made ladies' stockings. He died when I was a child. I was raised by my mother. I finished primary school and went to work.
What was that Italy like?
Mussolini kicked Jews out of public schools. He chased us, and we ran away.
A on?
In Switzerland walking Hidden by the fields.
And what did he do in Switzerland?
Suffering from hunger, in a refugee camp, separated from my mother and two sisters.
When could they meet again?
When Italy was liberated in 1945, we returned to Milan. I worked in tailoring, leather... And I got married. And he played bridge.
And this?
A pastime Decisive in my life.
Why does he say that?
My father-in-law gave me an empty warehouse attached to his jewelry store, in the luxurious Via Montenapoleone in Milan, where we played bridge games between friends...
And to play
One of the players was an art critic. He looked at the warehouse space and said with conviction: "Open an art gallery here!". I was encouraged, I listened to him and in 1956 I opened the Levi gallery.
Why do so many Jews work in the art market?
Since the Middle Ages they were prohibited from owning houses and land: they saved and lent money. When art stopped being ecclesiastical and became secularized... they invested in works of art.
Where is art going, Mr. Levi?
I'm going to the Arco fair... and I don't understand anything! Young artists should explain their works to us in a very thick essay.
Which work of art would you visit in Spain?
El Gernika: Picasso, astute, had half-finished a painting about the death of a bullfighter, retouched it... and slipped it into Paris in the Pavilion of the Republic. And he got paid, and that's it.
