UK:Multimillionaire artist Damien Hirst wildly exceeded expectations yesterday with a record-breaking sale of 218 items for £111 million (€140 million), underscoring the resilience of the high-end art market.
A further two items were sold privately on Monday and three remained unsold yesterday after the unprecedented sale that bypassed the traditional dealer network and instead went direct to the auction rooms of Sotheby's in London.
"It is iconic; inherently British," said one bidder at the Sotheby's auction who asked to remain anonymous. "His work challenges people, and visually it is stunning."
Despite a global economic downturn, the auction put paid to fears that Hirst's mammoth clearout sale could flood the art market and hit prices. After taking £70.55 million (€80 million) on Monday night, a morning and an afternoon sale yesterday brought in a further £41 million (€51 million).
Auction houses have been appealing to "recession-proof" buyers in the Middle East and Russia, where record oil prices have boosted already massive fortunes, along with the super-rich in emerging economies such as India.
By auctioning his work, Hirst can expect a far greater share of the money raised. The sale set a record for an auction dedicated to one artist. Sotheby's said it was 10 times the previous record set in 1993 for 88 works by Picasso.
The low-end estimate for the two-day sale by the artist, who is believed to be a dollar billionaire and is best known for his diced and pickled quadrupeds and, most recently, a $100 million (€70 million) diamond-encrusted skull, was £65 million (€82 million).
Hirst's The Dream, a horse designed to look like a unicorn preserved in a tank of formaldehyde, sold for £2.05 million (€2.6 million), and follows on from the £10.35 million (€12.9 million) paid for The Golden Calfon Monday.
- (Reuters)