Hirst Buyers Unconcerned About Economy

On the day that US investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, causing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to drop 504.48 points and the Nasdaq Composite to dump 81.36 points, triggering every economic index around the globe to ski downhill while watching the US economy circle the drain, Damien Hirst had himself a *fabulous* September 15, 2008.

Day 1 (the Evening Sale) of Hirst's Beautiful Inside My Head Forever auction at Sotheby's, London went extremely well. 56 of the 57 lots sold, realizing a grand total of 70,545,100 GBP including buyers' premiums. (Quick currency conversion: $126,155,802.00 US. Although, the way things are going, the exchange rate later this week might make that figure more like eleventy-kajillion US dollars.)

Next up, Day 2 (the Day Sale, in two sessions) and another 167 lots. Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, which is Hirst's experiment creating works specifically for direct auction (thus bypassing a gallery), seems to be working well for the artist and the buyers who can afford him. I can't help but wonder, though, as more banks and insurance companies and investment firms fail, if the financial states of the Art World and the Real World aren't due to collide.

Image credit

Damien Hirst (English, b. 1965)
The Rose Window, Durham Cathedral, 2008
Butterflies and metallic paint on canvas in artist's frame
Diameter: 270 cm (106 5/16 in.).
© 2008 Damien Hirst

Pre-sale Estimate: 700,000-900,000 GBP
Gavel Price with Buyer's Premium: 1,273,250 GBP

Photo: Sotheby's, London