Damien Hirst&The Golden Calf

Damien Hirst, the highest paid living artist and most provocative of the YBAs, is becoming a free agent. Hirst says he will sell his latest body of work at auction, circumventing gallery sales. “The world is changing,” said Hirst, .

This isn’t the first time Hirst has intrigued the art world with his business savvy. Back in November of 2003, the artist bought back 12 of his seminal pieces from benefactor Charles Saatchi for $15 million. By owning his key early work, Hirst sought to control his own market, deciding which pieces to hold on to or place in museums or collections. Were these works to be sold en masse, as Saatchi is known to do, the value of his works could have taken a substantial hit. This past February, Hirst also opened a store on the high street called Other Criteria, designed to “democratize” art–or at least commoditize it.

Hirst is hoping to set some new sales records at the two-day affair, titled “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever,” where enough art to constitute two gallery shows will be on the block. The pièce de résistance will be a bull submerged in formaldehyde—head crowned by a solid gold disc, hooves and horns cast in gold—inside a gold-plated stainless steel and glass box. The work, called “The Golden Calf,” is expected to fetch at least £12 million.

Via PSFK

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Damien Hirst

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 10:02 am and is filed under Art, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.