Damien Hirst is one of the richest and most famous artists in the world2. Starting from humble beginnings and achieving world fame, Hirst has created a name for himself through his unique works of art. One of his more bold moves lately was the decision to sell some of his works directly to auction, without a dealer. Doing so made Hirst one of the very first artists to make such a move. Such a risky move has its benefits and drawbacks for Hirst himself, and the art market.
One of the major benefits that Hirst seeks to reap by selling directly to auction is that he can avoid the significant loss of profits (30%-50%) that usually go to the dealers, sellers, and the auction house. Typically, artists don’t get anything from auction sales of their work, so by selling directly, Hirst can obtain a significant increase in revenue from sales2. Not only will he get more money, Hirst will get more exposure. Selling at Sotheby’s is a good way for him to get his name out to new, international buyers2. The auction has a “global reach” and this can not only expand Hirst’s following but it can also increase the numbers of players (buyers, dealers, etc) in the art market and yield more revenues from countries abroad. These international buyers can also help Hirst solve the alleged issue of excess inventory. In August 2008, Art Newspaper reported that Hirst’s London gallery White Cube had a backing of over 200 of his unsold works worth more than $185 million” It is not for sue whether this is true or not but if it is than he is definitely suffering from that problem. If this is true, selling at auction can help to alleviate this problem.
Despite the benefits of selling directly to auction, there are some disadvantages that both Hirst and the art market can experience. Hirst’s public image and relationships could be shattered. The selling at Sotheby’s appears to be the final big move by Hirst, marking the beginning of the end of an aspect of his career*.* For many years now, the quality of Hirst’s work has been fluctuating. There have been ambivalent feelings about his works and this has been reflected in recent sales prices for his pieces at auction. Selling at auction could be the Hirst’s last stand to obtain revenue from his seemingly less popular works. In another instance, by selling to auction directly he risks the chance of offending his dealer by excluding them from his sales process. Despite this, he claims that he will continue to work with two of the most prominent dealers in the art world, Larry Gagosian and Jay Jopling. For other artists they might not be as lucky to have such world-renowned dealers on their side.
I do think that Damien Hirst has overexposed himself. It seems as though he has an insatiable desire to be in the public arena. The public is always discussing Hirst and his shocking and unique style of art. This constant shock value he delivers the public is tiresome and evident from his decline in sales at auction. According to writer Katherine Jentleson in an article titled Beautiful Inside My Head…Whatever, the average price for works by Damien Hirst has been declining1. In early 2008 before September, the price for Hirst’s butterfly paintings was around $2 million. By the time September came around, the price for those butterfly paintings had dropped dramatically to less than $1 million1. In 2009, the price for these works hovers around $700,0001. The same downward trend is observed for Hirst’s spin and spot paintings, both of which had peak sale prices in September 2008 and have since plummeted. It appears that the public is looking for something else from Hirst, or just disinterested totally. Hirst seems to have burnt out. The overexposure, previous disorderly behavior, and outrageous works are very last season. I think Hirst tried way too hard to make a name for himself and went about it in a way such that it brought into question whether Hirst himself “actually knows what to do with a brush” since he seems to create works of art mechanically or not by his own hand2.
References:
1http://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2010/02/06/beautiful-inside-my-head-whatever/
2http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1838750,00.html#ixzz1jtokWCOU