When Damien Hirst chose to sell his works directly to auction he garnered the kind of attention he so desired. Going straight to Sotheby’s to sell his paintings had its pros and cons:
- Selling to Sotheby’s was the prefect-marketing tool and garnered him massive exposure to the international art market. The auction house has an international market and can expand Hirst’s the amount of buyers and dealers who are exposed to Hirst’s work.
- By going to Sotheby's Hirst avoided the dealer, seller and auction house commission, typically 30%-50% of profits. Artists don’t make any money on the sale of their works at auction thus by selling his paintings directly to Sotheby’s he made profit. Not only did Hirst get money he got something perhaps even more coveted, attention.
Some disadvantages Hirst encountered selling directly to auction was a blow to Hirst’s public image. Many people believed he seemed only eager to make a profit thus devauling his work. Hirst's “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever” auction did break record sales, The Golden Calf, sold foor 18.5 million; however, since breaking his own record his sales have declined- in later auctions, almost half of his works were "bought-in."
I do think that Damien Hirst is overexposed and over-produced. Hirst frequently utilizes shock value in his work, as evident in A Thosand Years (1990), which features a severed cow head. This purely shock-producing attention-seeking style has become tiresome as evident from his decline in sales at auction. Hirst’s spin and spot paintings, both of which peaked in price in 2008 and have since plummeted. on January 12, 2012 Gagosian Gallery launched massive spot painting shows in all their galleries, likely in hopes to reinvigorate the spots or to get rid of Hirst's work. This Gagosian show has garnered all sorts of positive attention since launching a couple weeks ago, however this seems like one final jaunt before Hirst burns out. There are hundreds of paintings that have been divide up between Gagosian's several galleries. I believe the sheer quantity of his work is actually devaluing itself.
A Thosand Years (1990)
The opening of "Damien Hirst: The Complete Spot Paintings" at Gagosian's beverly Hills gallery.
In conclusion, Hirst’s decision to go straight to auction made appear too money hungry and actually caused a decline in the value of the works. At first the auction strategy worked as it shocked people and had never been done before, however his works became purely a commodity with very little focus on the artistic value of his works.