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Christopher Burge, auctioneer at Damien Hirst Sale, Christie's, London, 2008.

DAY 17 Today is Thursday, January 19th, and we'll take an in depth look at Damien Hirst's "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever"

auction at Sotheby's, London just as the global financial crisis began to surface at the end of September 2008. Look

at the short Time magazine interview with Hirst as he prepares for the auction and read one of the auction reports.

Knowing now what you do about auctions, Hirst, and the commissioning process, discuss the pros and cons of the

Hirst auction for the art market as a whole and for Hirst as an individual artist/entrepreneur. Since this sale (and the

global financial crisis), Hirst has been losing market share and many of his works frequently don't find buyers at auction.

Do you think he's over-produced or overexposed himself? You can use other high profile auctions or examples of

artist/entrepreneurs in your response. Note: the Art Market Monitor article lists a number of useful articles, graphs and sites.

Readings

Damien Hirst: Bad Boy Makes Good http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1838681-2,00.html

Review: Artlaw, Auctions: Beautiful Inside My Head Forever http://www.artquest.org.uk/artlaw/money/auctions/beautiful-inside-my-head-forever.htm

Art Market Monitor: Beautiful Inside My Head ... Whatever http://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2010/02/06/beautiful-inside-my-head-whatever/

Damien Hirst: Rich Artist Gets Richer http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,1774353335_1839008,00.html

Individual Contributions

Consider & comment:
Please use this space to respond to your classmates' work and to engage in lively discussions on the day's topic. Keep your comments concise and conversational by responding to others, rebutting or supporting their ideas. Use the comment box below for these observations.