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Review Sep 16 2008 « | »
"Banks fall over, art triumphs" Yesterday was always going to be a big day for the larger art world: the first ever auction of......

Donald Eastwood

Yesterday was always going to be a big day for the larger art world: the first ever auction of art from the primary market - that is to say Hirst putting his work directly into auction at Sotheby's, and so cutting out his dealers Joplin and Gagosian, and promoting art and the artist over gallery and the sales list. There's a nice comparison to it here.

Much publicity has accompanied this milestone: The funniest is without doubt this one, where Robert Hughes condemns his sensationalism in the most sensationalist language he can muster. The paper's libel-avoiding reposte the day after makes better reading later on, and entertainingly brings up Hirst's Black Ritual, probably because Hughes ranted the suggestion that the artist should use houseflies instead of sharks.

As is well known by now, the record-breaking auction was a huge success, 'huge but not massive' as one writer put it. The greater implications are being mooted, some things seeming clear: the auction houses take 15%, dealers take at least 50%; some contemporary art is popular or desirous enough not to need the backing of large gallerists; or buyers are becoming enthusiastic enough to judge on their own. As Hirst put it, "the market is bigger than anyone knows."

This event was compounded by other events on Monday, which may or may not be reduced to Sir Norman Rosenthal's much-quoted tagline of the title. It is exciting times indeed for the art world, when such confidence is shown for a living artist acting on his own, and when the art market flies across the face of economic strife.

As for the art itself - "my greatest hits" Hirst called it in one interview - the one piece I'd like to talk about is the glass cabinets full of fake diamonds, which few writers point out still has the key in the lock (which turned, but did not seem to unlock the cabinet). The largest production of this, Fragments of Paradise, was the auction's biggest surprise so far, raising three times its top estimate, and there were several smaller one, and a similar-sized cabinet with lined up cigarette butts.

It entertained me in the face of all those ignorant comments about Hirst and Money, that have surrounded Hirst becoming a dollar billionaire, the diamond skull, the solid gold hooves of his bull. After all, he could doubtless have filled this huge cabinet with diamonds - but instead it sits there reminding the audience of their awe and then disappointment in the face of the fakes, and to consider the artifice of his choice of materials as they would his overly pretentious titles, rather falling back to cynicism in the face of their monetary value.

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