On August 27th I posted on the AW blog about artist Damien Hirst bypassing the gallery system and selling directly through auction (click HERE to read "A blurring of the Primary and Secondary Markets?" post). Hirst was selling 287 lots of his various creations through Sotheby's London salesroom. The Wall Street Journal is now reporting the 287 lots sold for a combined $201 million dollars.The Wall Street Journal article states "By the final fall of the gavel at Sotheby's sale of new works by Damien Hirst yesterday, the world's richest artist (reportedly worth more than $1 billion), was $172 million richer. That was the amount left from the $201 million total after subtracting Sotheby's commission and $6.2 million of charitable donations. But perhaps more important, Mr. Hirst was also comfortable in the knowledge he had made history."
Even with economic concerns, the sale was considered extremely successful. The most active bidders for Hirst's works appeared to be from Sotheby's own private client services division for Russian clients and Francois Pinault, owner of rival auction house Christie's and Hirst collector.
Interest for appraisers is the estimates were set about 30% below gallery prices. The WSJ article states that about half the lots sold for above the estimates, and about half below, with several items considered bargains.
As usual, the WSJ article is an excellent read with some great details of the sale. To read the full Wall Street Journal article about the Hirst/Sotheby's sale, click HERE.
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