The “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever” auction was in many ways a breakthrough moment for Damien Hirst. Although he had already enjoyed incomparable commercial success, this was the first time ever that an auction house sold a sizable body of work right from an artist's studio [1]. Hirst bypassed the system and walked away with pretty much all of the profit. Would Hirst now become an even bigger superstar?
It seems that this has not been the case. Hirst's “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever” auction marked a sort of last hurrah for the artist. He enjoyed phenomenal, record breaking sales. His work, The Golden Calf, went for 18.5 million, beating Hirst's own record of 17.2 million for a work of his sold the previous summer [3]. But since the historic sale, he has significant decreases in sales of other works. In following auctions, about two- thirds of his work were bought-in [2].
Perhaps Hirst has just been pushing the limits for too long and his straight to the auction house approach was the last straw. Artists never go straight to auction, as a rule. It would make them appear too eager for money and would likely decrease the value of their works. Perhaps Hirst was able to initially get away with this as a result of his major success, and because his works deal directly with issues of commodification. Since Hirst's show, there has been much talk about the implications this event held for the rest of the art world. Would it be possible for others to bypass the system? This would be a dealer's nightmare. Usually profit is split fifty-fifty between artist and dealer.
It was speculated that other big name artists, such as Jeff Koons, might try the same method. But others are wary. And in light of Hirst's plummet, it is unlikely that others will ever consider going straight to the auction house.
Another factor that likely contributed to Hirst's market decline was his overproduction. At the height of his success, he employed about 120 people to assist him with his work [1]. It is rumored that his gallery, White Cube, in London, is holding over 200 pieces of his unsold works [1]. If these rumors are true, perhaps it is the sheer quantity of his work that is devaluing itself.
It may also be that Hirst's attitude toward his own works are hurting him. In an interview with TIME just before the “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever” sale, Hirst stated that he has really only done about four good pieces, including the Golden Calf, and the rest of it is just sort of “puff” [4]. In regards to one of his spot paintings, he describes it as looking “kinda 60's” In another TIME interview, he says of his work, "The spot paintings, the spin paintings... they're all a mechanical way to avoid the actual guy in a room, myself, with a blank canvas." [1].
Since Hirst's decline in popularity over recent years, he has begun painting with his own hand again. Will he be able to show the market that he is capable of this kind of art? Will his fame as a factory style artist overshadow his other artistic attempts? Or will Hirst simply be unable to prove himself as an actual painter? Consider his “No Love Lost” show at the Wallace Collection in London. In a review of the show, the Independent ran an article titled “Are Hirst's Paintings Any Good? No, They're not Worth Looking At.” The article is summed up at the end with “the freak show goes on” [6].
[5]
Perhaps Hirst will never regain the commercial success that he enjoyed up until his “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever” show. Perhaps it will be a long time before we see another artist of such rock star magnitude that will try to turn the artworld on its head.
[1] http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1838681-2,00.html
[2] http://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2010/02/06/beautiful-inside-my-head-whatever/
[3] http://www.luxist.com/2008/09/15/hirsts-golden-calf-sells-for-record-breaking-18-million/
[4] http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,1774353335_1839008,00.html
[5] http://www.wallacecollection.org/collections/exhibition/77