Art Auction: Damien HIRST at Sotheby’s

On 18 October 2004, Sotheby’s London is to auction the contents of the “Pharmacy” restaurant, which houses the largest collection of Damien HIRST’s artworks. Everything in the Notting Hill-based restaurant from the walls and paintings to the crockery was designed by the most famous of the Young British Artists. Among the most noteworthy are 11 “Medicine Cabinets” and 10 “Butterfly Paintings”.Offering almost 140 lots with estimates of between GBP50 and GBP300,000, this auction, which overlaps with the Frieze Art Fair, is expected to fetch in excess of GBP 3 million.

Artist benchmark of Damien HIRST (1965):July 1st, 2003 – June 30th, 2004 – PRICE INDEX (basis USD 100 in 1997): 547.1 – Price Growth since January 2004: +61.5% – TURNOVER: USD6,436,414 – 44 works of this artist have been auctioned. – % of lots unsold (Excluding prints): 26% – Rank of artist in the Artprice Top 100: 65 – Number of lots recorded by Artprice: 250 – Artprice Knowledge ranking: 148Artist’s turnover Weight by country: United States 60.0% – United Kingdom 39.8% Weight by media: Painting 49.7% – Sculpture/Installation 45.7%Segmentation of hammer prices by price level (USD) Top hammer price between July 1st 2003 – June 30th 2004: USD1,050,000 50 % of hammer prices are under USD32,500Top auction record : USD1,050,000 «Something Solid beneath the Surface […]» (Installation-2001) sold by Phillips-De-Pury-&-Luxembourg, New-York (November 13 2003)(copyright © www.artprice.com 1987-2004 Thierry Ehrmann)Artprice Index (base 1997=USD 100)

The 1995 Turner Prize winner is the unrivalled leader of the YBA group with 28 works sold for a turnover of almost EUR 4 million in 2003. His Artprice Index rose almost 300% between 1997 and 2003. For example, Damien HIRST’s installation “God” was bought in for GBP4,000 in London in 1992 and went under the hammer for GBP170,000 six years later. Collectors who bought YBA works 10 years ago certainly made a sound investment. But today, the story is very different given the current index.