|
HOME PAGE |
LUXURY NOW |
WINDOW SHOPPING |
BRAND GALLERY |
CITY GUIDE |
LUXURY TRAVELER |
ARTS PORTFOLIO |
The British superstar artist has rewritten the rules of the art market, with a stupendously successful auction of his own artworks at Sotheby's London.
Sidestepping White Cube and Gagosian Gallery, which represent him in London and New York respectively, Damien Hirst's auction of his own artworks at Sotheby's London has had staggering results.
The astounding success of Damien Hirst's sale at Sotheby's (www.sothebys.com) London, raking in £111,464,800 million – massively exceeding its estimate of £68-98 million, is far removed from the tumbling financial markets. It also confounded critics who doubted that Hirst's initiative would pull off and has further cemented Hirst's superstar status.
Titled "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever", the two-day sale on September 15-16, 2008, saw 223 works snapped up by collectors. It generated 10 times more than the previous record set for an auction devoted to a single artist when 88 works by Pablo Picasso fetched $20 million, equivalent to £11.3 million, at Sotheby's New York in 1993.
The sale included signature works from the Hirst "brand", such as tanks of dead sharks, black sheep and zebras in formaldehyde; glass cabinets filled with medical supplies, fish, cigarette butts and diamonds; and paintings of butterflies and dots.
The top-selling lot was "The Golden Calf", which sold for £10.3 million. It is a male calf submerged in formaldehyde and adorned with horns, hooves and a disk above its head all made of 18-carat gold.
According to The Daily Telegraph in the UK, Hirst has earned £95,712,000 from the auction, augmenting his wealth by one fifth. The British artist's manager, Frank Dunphy, has claimed that Hirst is now worth a billion dollars.
"I think the market is bigger than anyone knows," Hirst says. "I love art and this proves I'm not alone and the future looks great for everyone!"
Sotheby's went into a marketing overdrive for the event, devoting all of its 13 New Bond Street galleries to 11 days of viewing that it has referred to as an "exhibition". Only five lots failed to sell and several went for less than their pre-sale estimate. Five works were sold to benefit charities, realizing a combined total of £3,289,450. Tellingly, 35 percent of the buyers in the evening sale were new to Sotheby's contemporary art department and 18 percent were new to Sotheby's.
White Cube (www.whitecube.com), which represents Hirst in London, is celebratory in its press statement. "Once again Damien has shown he is a mould-breaker without equal and we are immensely impressed and proud of his achievement. It is clear that the interest in Damien's work has significantly expanded and we are relishing the prospect of working with him to continue to develop this."
While the sale has been closely observed, many gallerists contacted by Luxuryculture.com declined to comment on its impact and significance. The sale has sent ripples through the art world, notably because of Hirst's audacity to cut out his dealers, Jay Joplin of White Cube and Larry Gagosian (www.gagosian.com), and take his works straight to an auction house.
"Some gallerists will tell you that it's unhealthy," says the Paris dealer, Kamel Mennour (www.galeriemennour.com). "Personally, I think it's about a new perspective that is certainly isolated because I can't see many other artists supporting such a pressure and such a volume of works, which is like a 'Best Of'."
Daniel Templon (www.danieltemplon.com), another Paris dealer, is also enthusiastic. "These exceptional results surpass all predictions and contradict the usual Cassandras of the art market. I've always thought this sale would be a success: fashion, effect of attraction, English artist of world fame, works coming directly from his studio and therefore never seen before, choice and media attention."
The fact that the works have come straight from Hirst's studio is significant. As Lowell Pettit (www.lowellpettit.com), a New York-based art adviser, says, "When all those works come up for re-sale, the question is this: Will the provenance of this event matter? I think the answer will be yes if Hirst's work continues to grow. If it's more sharks and cows and another precious metal and more butterflies and medicine cabinets, he may outstay his welcome, and this auction could possibly be an efficient and damning symbol of excess and opportunism in retrospect."
Pettit, who also teaches at Sotheby's Institute of Art, points out that in the history of art other artists have also been instrumental in terms of self-representation. "In the 19th Century, many artists were their own gallerists to varying degrees of success, most notably Turner," he informs. "Similarly, Giotto, Bernini and Raphael were their own managers, dealers, or agents. The role of a gallery has been challenged and changed before."
The question on everyone's lips is whether any other artists will follow suit. "I do expect [Takashi] Murakami to be next but probably in New York," suggests Josh Baer, who publishes The Baer Faxt, a subscription-based "art industry" newsletter. Pettit agrees that this could be a possibility: "In so far as commercial cross-over is already central to Murakami's practice, this makes him a natural potential fit with straight-to-auction." Indeed, not only does Murakami have a factory-style operation like Hirst, he also organizes an art fair, called Geisai, which directly sells the works of young artists without any involvement from galleries. "And [Richard] Prince is, allegedly, already acting as his own dealer at the moment," adds Pettit.
However, Jeff Koons believes that such an auction is not for him. Talking exclusively to Luxuryculture.com, the American superstar artist says, "I make so few works that it's not a situation for myself. But I think it's very exciting and tremendous exposure, and it's interesting to see how the economics [of the art market] are changing."
Another consideration is about how the sale indicates that, in a recession, collectors are more likely to buy icons and trophies by blue-chip artists. As Mennour notes, "I think that the market will tighten [during the credit crunch] and that collectors will go towards very representative works."
Templon offers a similar but more complex opinion. "If there is a revision in the values of artists' works because of the crisis on the stock exchange, it will affect all artists, from the biggest to the smallest. In 1991, [prices for] Andy Warhol and Willem de Kooning declined in the same way as [those for] young artists. In any case, the value of star artists will stay high. The richest collectors – those that buy Damien Hirst's works for several hundred dollars – will continue to have important liquidities so they can continue buying and supporting the value of the artists that they already own."