“Beautiful Inside My Head Forever”: Artist Sells Dead Animals For $200 Million
Yeah, I’ll bet it’s gonna be beautiful inside his fucking head forever. I don’t care what anyone has to say about art or how beautiful the pieces really are, blah, blah… but as for what they really mean to the artist and were meant by him to mean to the world, and as to the questions of how special or especially beautiful they are, I’ll look to a scenario I’m certain will happen: one night he’s going to be just past the line of drooling drunk and say to a friend: “Dude, can you fucking believe how much money I made from those fucking corpses?”
-Pat
Excerpted From The New York Times:
LONDON — Against a backdrop of reeling financial markets and nervous investors, Sotheby’s and the British artist Damien Hirst forged ahead with “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever,” a highly publicized auction of works by Mr. Hirst and all made within the last two years.
In a gamble that could have ramifications for other artists, Mr. Hirst was bypassing galleries and taking his work straight to auction.
And there were signs that the bet was paying off: the first session’s total was $127.2 million.
“I woke up this morning in the teeth of the gale of recession,” Mr. Hirst’s business manager, Frank Dunphy, said after the sale, “but we came out as confident as ever.”
Tobias Meyer, worldwide head of contemporary art at Sotheby’s, explained the total this way: “Damien Hirst is a global artist that can defy local economies.” Jose Mugrabi, a New York dealer, had another take: “Today people believe more in art than the stock market. At least it’s something you can enjoy.”
Mr. Hirst could not have anticipated the sale’s timing, amid news that Lehman Brothers had filed for bankruptcy and other serious changes on the financial landscape. Sotheby’s was said to be taking steps to ensure that the sale did not fall flat, like offering buyers a six-month grace period to pay for purchases.
The headlines had little effect on the scene outside the salesroom here. The street was filled with television camera crews; fans hoping to spot celebrities like Bianca Jagger; and a crowd waiting for the doors to open. Inside later it was standing room only.
On Monday, the evening’s star was “The Golden Calf,” a young white bull preserved in formaldehyde, with hoofs and horns made of 18-carat gold and a gold disc crowning the head. The work was estimated at $15.8 million to $23.6 million and drew three bidders. It went for $18.6 million to a buyer on the phone.
A work along similar lines, “The Black Sheep With the Golden Horn,” had just two bidders, with the winner paying $4.7 million, in the middle of its $3.9 million to $5.9 million estimate. Three potential buyers vied for “The Kingdom,” another formaldehyde-preserved work, this one a tiger shark. It sold for $17.2 million, well above its high estimate of $11.8 million.
As part of his sales pitch, Mr. Hirst said that he would no longer be making butterfly paintings and that there would be far fewer dead animals.
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PETA? PAGING MS. PETA.
September 18th, 2008 at 3:48 amPlease pick up a white courtesy auction phone.
it’s a bit of the same spirit of the “curiosity cabinet”
http://www.edugraphics.net/0-loe2/Curiosity_Cabinet_poster.htm
though, more exhibitionist.
Damien Hirst has well understood the means of the advertisings, he sells discourses and that fonctions, uh I wonder if anyone will recall him in a few centuries, cause the words he uses will disappear, also their sense will not be anymore the same
September 18th, 2008 at 4:11 amThey’ve got a whole warehouse district in Minneapolis filled with people like this, who not only are supported by Minnesota government taxpayer handouts to support “art”, but who are mostly homosexuals and perverts who haven’t had a decent job in years. If I were Governor, I would veto every penny spent on this trash and make them go find a real job.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:35 amPeople are stupid sums it up
September 18th, 2008 at 4:53 amMax is right.
If these people are stupid enough to buy this guys crap than I’ve got some art on the side yard that I’ll let go for a bargain. One that the dog helped with is one I like to call “like flies to honey”. I feel it has strong symbolism and reaches into the depths of my brain and really captures the essence of my….
Oh hell, it’s still a pile of crap.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:55 am“Damien Hirst has well understood the means of the advertisings….”
That’s some stupid shit right there.
Pat nailed it…. “one night he’s going to be just past the line of drooling drunk and say to a friend: “Dude, can you fucking believe how much money I made from those fucking corpses?””
I’ll bet the sheep was Damien’s ’special friend’.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:02 amIf you think that’s pretty you should see them next to my mashed taters.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:04 amSo THAT’S where the Bush tax cuts for the rich are going! The money is supporting all types of fabulous domestic industry. Let me know when this trickles down, I’ll be filing for unemployment.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:16 amUhhhh…… ok…..
I’ve always said to myself, SELF!….. If we get crazy mad money, your going to go and schmooze around the art scene, find the biggest, newest, hippest artist thats in the scene at the time, we’re talking like, THE GUY….. know what I mean?…..
Find that dude and commission him to paint that timeless, immortal classic….. Dogs playing poker…. Just to make fun of the seriousness with which the whole art scene takes of itself…….
Just thought I’d share that with youz….. that is all……
September 18th, 2008 at 5:18 am“That’s some stupid shit right there.”
have you decided to point behind me ?
I don’t see what is antinomic with what I said and with what Pat said
“I’ll bet the sheep was Damien’s ’special friend’.”
that should pretty spiritual I suppose, I am converted right now
September 18th, 2008 at 5:33 amhey, while that guy makes the bucks, this guy is going to be charged for a 5 lb Chihuahua
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/breaking/story/198995.html
September 18th, 2008 at 6:18 amSome people are just stupid.
September 18th, 2008 at 6:46 amBy that I mean the dipsticks who buy his “art” and the dipstick who makes it.
September 18th, 2008 at 7:27 amSave your money and get a better job from the taxidermist!
September 18th, 2008 at 9:06 amRevolting.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:59 amI am in the wrong business
September 18th, 2008 at 12:29 pmI knew a guy in the service who complained once about finding a decent taxidermist to mount his kill. Now I know why, they’re calling themselves artists now and fleecing the stupid, I mean idle rich.
I agree with another above poster, I’d love to see this guy do “dogs playing poker”.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:37 pm