Archive for January, 2012

By now, you’ve probably reached the saturation point reading about the Damien Hirst “Spot” paintings road show. The thing nobody seems to be talking about is the credibility of the market for Hirst’s art. Though it’s been widely reported that he’s one of England’s wealthiest citizens, it’s hard to get to the truth over how much work he’s actually sold. Specifically, the 2008 Sotheby’s London $200 million auction extravaganza of his own art, consigned by him, which aced out his middle-men dealers Larry Gagosian and Jay Jopling.

When the sales results were originally reported, the press panted over the incredible numbers, all the more extraordinary given that international financial markets were cratering. Since then, various stories have trickled out indicating there was more to the auction total than meets the eye. For openers, there’s been talk that Hirst himself, through proxies, supported some of the lots, thereby propping up prices. But even more revealing, there have been rumors of legitimate sales where the buyers never bothered to pay for their purchases. If true, it certainly makes you wonder about the $200 million figure. Finally, right before the Sotheby’s auction took place, Hirst tried to hype the sale by announcing he would no longer be fabricating any more creature-filled tanks of formaldehyde, Butterfly paintings, and Spot paintings — a promise which he failed to keep. In fact, Hirst recently bragged about a work in progress that will contain one million spots and take another nine years to complete.

At this point, although I admire Hirst and agree that he is immensely talented, I’d be leery of investing in his work. Like the proverbial moving target, his story keeps changing.

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