Damien Hirst is one of the wealthiest contemporary artists to date, and he is most noted for his auction, The Beautiful Inside My Head Forever Auction, however since this auction his art pieces have never been as successful. What made this auction so unique was that Hirsts' pieces went directly to auction, and never were handled by a dealer. This is unprecedented, and somewhat taboo in the art world, however, for him, it proved to be very profitable.
Artists never go directly to market, because it bypasses the need for a dealer, and often makes one seem as though they are simply creating art in order to sell their pieces for the most money possible, and keep all of the profits for themselves, instead of splitting it 50/50 with a dealer. This shows to the audience that the artist is greedy, and does not care to follow the rules, but rather undermines the art market system in order to solely benefit himself. Through this method, Hirst hurt his reputation along with burning any relationships he may have had previously with dealers, and any potential for new relationships within the art world. It is clear he followed his large ego in this situation, believing himself to be above the system, and independent and popular enough to survive without any relationships with dealers.
The Art Market also discouraged of this method of selling his pieces because they state that it harms their business because it undermines their authority. Now artists might think, Hirst was extremely successful selling straight to auction, why can't I be? Thus, the art market suffers while the artists gets a large payoff. This however is not entirely true. Although it did succeed in this one example, Hirsts' works since this auction have declined, which may be a direct correlation to his large ego and his manner of selling his art. Other artists may see this and not want to repeat Hirst's mistakes. Also, many of the people who bought at the Beautiful Inside My Head Forever Auction were first time buyers, thus bringing new people into the contemporary art world.
Not only did Hirst hurt himself through this auction, he also slandered himself in Times Magazine, stating that he only truly thought four of his pieces were worth anything and the others were just "puff". Through this, his fans and audience may feel hurt that Hirst does not even think highly of his own work, but boldly discusses his factory style work, and describes his own pieces, which they may be attached to, as puff. By doing this, he further isolates himself from his fans, and bolsters peoples' opinion that he is solely making art for the profit. Hirst also may have overexposed himself, by putting too many pieces out at once (a simple feat seeing as he employs around 120 people to make his art), he has given too much supply to a market that does not have sufficient demand.
The Golden Calf, one of the four pieces Hirst believes is worth anything.
Now however, Hirst is rebounding through making his own paintings again, and by participating in the market in a less taboo manner. Either way, Hirst has definitely set new standards for creating and marketing contemporary art.