Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst Draws Fire for $50 Million Diamond and Platinum Baby Skull

Filed under: Art

Art world provocateur Damien Hirst's latest work, an authentic baby's skull covered in platinum and diamonds, is causing controversy in the UK. The sculpture (above), entitled For Heaven's Sake, is a follow-up to the Brit artist's astounding $100 million diamond covered skull which he debuted in 2007. The new work is based on an infant's skull believed to be that of a newborn less than two weeks old from a 19th-century pathology collection that Hirst has acquired, the London Telegraph reports. Cast in platinum and set with more than 8,000 white and pink diamonds by royal jewelers Bentley & Skinner, the skull will be exhibited later this month at the Gagosian Gallery's new space in Hong Kong and will be shown in London later this year.

The gallery has not named a price for the new work but we expect it to fetch at least $50 million if not more. The work has angered parenting groups who claim that it is offensive to those who have suffered the bereavement of a child, the newspaper reports, raising the specter of protests. That of course is only likely to increase its value. "When you look at a skull, you think it represents the end, but when you see the end so beautiful, it gives you hope," Hirst commented regarding his earlier skull work. "Diamonds are about perfection and clarity and wealth and sex and death and immortality. They are a symbol of everything that's eternal, but then they have a dark side as well."

Tags: art, Bentley Skinner, Damien Hirst, diamond, diamonds, Gagosian Gallery, gemstones, jewelry, platinum, skull, UK

Ukranian Billionaire Flys in Ducasse, Cirque du Soleil for $6 Million Birthday Bash

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events, Wealth

Ukrainian billionaire Viktor Pinchuk (above) is spending more than $6 million on an opulent 50th birthday bash for himself in the posh French ski resort of Courchevel tonight, flying in the Cirque de Soleil and superchef Alain Ducasse for the occasion. The steel magnate and contemporary art collector, whose has an estimated fortune of over $3 billion, is sparing no expense for the 300 guests invited to the event, the London Telegraph reports. It has taken 50 workmen two weeks "under difficult climactic conditions" to set up an enormous marquee to showcase the Cirque du Soleil, the world-renowned Canadian circus troupe, the paper notes.

Ducasse's haute cuisine will be accompanied by oceans of the finest champagne, vodka and top grand cru vintage wines. The evening will end with a spectacular fireworks display before guests retire to the resort's 11 five-star hotels, all booked out for the occasion. Pinchuk, who owns one of London's most expensive houses, has his own private museum in Kiev housing major works by Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and Louis Vuitton collaborator Takashi Murakami. He has a number of philanthropic projects and arts sponsorships in the works with the likes of Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Steven Spielberg, George Soros and Bill Clinton, all of whom could turn up at the birthday blowout.

Tags: Alain Ducasse, billionaire, Cirque de Soleil, contemporary art, Courchevel, Damien Hirst, events, france, Jeff Koons, museum, oligarch, parties, Paul McCartney, Russian billionaires, Takashi Murakami, Ukraine, wealth

Inside Luxury King Francois Pinault's Private Palazzo Museums

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Wealth, Architecture & Design

Francois Pinault is a man justifiably envied by many. With a fortune of $8.7 billion the high-school dropout-turned luxury goods titan is the majority shareholder of PPR, whose brands include Gucci, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta. He also owns famed auction house Christie's and the renowned Chateau Latour winery. His amazing contemporary art collection, worth an estimated $1.4 billion, encompasses 2,000-plus works by over 80 artists including Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, Takashi Murakami and Damien Hirst. Much of it is now housed as his two incredible private museums in Venice, the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana. Both historic buildings were transformed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando and are the subject of a smashing new book from Skira Rizzoli.

Tadao Ando: Venice - The Pinault Collection at the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana shows how Ando's designs seamlessly blend history and innovation while adhering to the strict laws governing the preservation of historic buildings in Venice. At the Palazzo Grassi, prominently located on the Grand Canal, Ando's quiet but expert renovation of the eighteenth-century rooms makes a perfect backdrop for Jeff Koons' eye-popping balloon sculptures. At the Punta della Dogana (shown on the cover above), the Venetian Republic's original customs warehouse, the large-scale space was subtly subdivided into refined rooms for installation art. The "dialogue – that is collision and friction – between the new and the old," Ando states, "is the driving force in creating a city's future."

Tags: architect, architecture, art, art collection, Balenciaga, billionaire, Bottega Veneta, Chateau Latour, contemporary art, Damien Hirst, France, Francois Pinault, Gucci, Italy, Jeff Koons, luxury goods, museum, PPR, Richard Prince, Tadao Ando, Takashi Murakami, Venice, Yves Saint Laurent

Frieze Art Fair Opens With Big Hirst Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

The last couple of years have seen the artworks of Damien Hirst tumble in value but perhaps that is changing. Hirst's "The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths," a 2006 piece featuring more than 400 specimens of fish in three formaldehyde-filled cabinets sold for $5.6 million in the first hour of the preview of the Frieze Art Fair.

Supermodel Claudia Schiffer, hedge-fund manager Steve Cohen and others were at the London event. Bloomberg News reports that Dasha Zhukova, Roman Abramovich's art-loving girlfriend was also at the VIP Day. The event is Europe's biggest commercial event devoted to living artists with a total of $375 million worth of art on display. It isn't all Hirst-level expensive, the fair is also an opportunity to invest in younger artists with more reasonable prices.

The fair runs through October 17 at London's Regent Park and tickets are £25. Frieze has also launched a free iPhone and iPad app this autumn that includes an interactive map of the fair and 'Art Finder' a comprehensive search filter enabling visitors to navigate and browse the exhibited art works on their own terms by selecting specific media and size, as well as work priced under £5,000. Get an inside look at the fair by checking out the Frieze Flickr page.

Tags: claudia schiffer, damien hirst, frieze art fair, FriezeArtFair, london art fair

Lehman Art Brings In Over $12 Million

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Fine art formerly owned by Lehman Brothers brought in $12.28 million at Sotheby's New York on Saturday, September 25. The money will be a drop in the bucket toward the more than 600 billion dollars owed to creditors of Lehman Brothers, which declared bankruptcy on that fateful day back in 2008, causing global financial panic. The AFP reports that the sale set 17 records for artists, including Julie Mehretu, whose painting "Untitled 1," shown above, sold for $1,022,500, sailing over the estimate of $600,000-800,000. One lot that failed to sell was an early piece by British art darling Damien Hirst.

Tags: art, damien hirst, julie mehretu, lehman brothers, sothebys

One Hundred Legendary Louis Vuitton Trunks [video]

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Books, Video

In November Abrams Books will publish an incredible volume showcasing 100 legendary trunks made by the famed French luxury goods house Louis Vuitton since the firm was founded in 1854. The luxe luggage includes bespoke trunks made for movie stars from Douglas Fairbanks to Sharon Stone and couturiers from Jeanne Lanvin to Karl Lagerfeld, as well as cases designed for Ernest Hemingway, Leopold Stokowski, and Damien Hirst. The trunks have been designed to hold everything from beds to bicycles, desks and iPods. Illustrated with 600 images taken from the Louis Vuitton archives in France and new photographs made especially for this book, Louis Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks is designed to be the "definitive history of personalized objects of both practicality and luxury." The book is currently available for pre-order on Amazon, meanwhile you can check out this incredible video preview.

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Tags: Abrams Books, Damien Hirst, Ernest Hemingway, France, Karl Lagerfeld, Louis Vuitton, luggage, luxury goods, Sharon Stone, travel, trunks

Spare Tire Cover by Damien Hirst

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Art

If you're enamored of the idea of an art car, but can't quite extend yourself to the likes of those priceless BMWs and McLarens, Damien Hirst may have the happy median you're looking for. The contemporary British artist has applied his world-renowned talents to a spare tire cover that can be mounted to your luxury sport-utility vehicle.

The "spin" design you see here is applied to the composite dish, mounted to a stainless steel band to cover the spare tire on the back of an SUV. The item is available for £900 ($1,390 USD), which may seem like a lot for a tire cover, but it's a far cry from the $527,000 which Hirst's hand-painted Audi A1 sold for at auction recently. Stop by Other Criteria for a closer look or to place your order.

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Tags: art car, damien hirst, hirst, other criteria, spare tire, sport-utility vehicle, suv

Fur, Feathers, Bugs and Butterflies at MAD

by Bobbie Leigh (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events, Art

If the Museum of Arts and Design's new show had a soundtrack, it would be Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive." As Jovi says and MAD's show tells, "Every day it seems we're wastin' away." Yet in the fascinating "Dead or Alive" show at MAD nothing -not fur, feathers, bones, insects, shell - goes to waste. In fact, 37 international artists whose work is on view have transformed once-living material into "lively" sculpture and installations.

Rather than morbid, the work is mysterious, highly personal, and each in its own way comments on the human condition and the transcendence of life, whether man or beast. One of the most remarkable installations is Keith W. Bentley's Cauda Equina,
made up of 1.4 million hand-knotted horse hairs mounted on fabric and applied to a horse mannequin. The result is a shaggy pony that resembles a huge sheep dog in mourning. Bentley is a self-trained artist who is passionate about animals. On learning that more than 250 horses were going to be slaughtered in processing plants, the artist obtained all the hair from the horses' manes and tails. He twisted and hand-knotted them, a painstaking process that took 12 years. He then created what is, in effect, a horse-hair blanket that he placed over the pony form to create the spooky installation. The idea of covering the pony's head with a flowing veil of horse hair evokes the Victorian custom of mourning when women covered their faces with a veil.

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Tags: art installation, craft, damien hirst, design, museum of art and design, Museum of Arts and Design, new york city, new york museum, shen shaomin

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Christie's Green Auction, Saving The Planet Through Art

by Ariston Anderson (RSS feed) —

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day this year, Christie's has joined forces with NBC Universal to auction off a host of celebrity experiences, world-renowned art, and luxurious travel packages. In addition to a live inaugural Christie's Green Auction on the 22nd, they've partnered up with Charity Buzz to host an online auction with such prizes as a golf outing with President Bill Clinton or an all-new Lexus Hybrid 250h. And the entire event is carbon neutral. Among the spectacular artwork up for bids is Damien Hirst's All You Need is Jealousy, The Salt Pit by Matthew Ritchie, and a Broken Record Beatles Art collage from our favorite young art duo Robi Walters and Leanne Wright, signed with the support of Sir Paul McCartney himself.

Proceeds will benefit the Central Park Conservancy, Oceana, Conservation International, and the National Resources Defense Council.

Christie's Green Auction
April 22 at 7.30pm EST
20 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY

Through May 6 at CharityBuzz.com.

Tags: central park conservancy, charity buzz, christies, conservation international, damien hirst, earth day, green auction, oceana

Banksy's Latest Coup: Exit Through the Gift Shop

by Ariston Anderson (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Auctions, Celebrity Shopping, Art

What would cause the world's most elusive and most illustrious street artist to make a film with never before seen insights into his own life? To get back at a man who used his name and took advantage of his friendship of course. The art world is abuzz with the latest work from the genius that is Banksy, Exit Through the Gift Shop.While the film is not about Banksy, as the hype would have you believe, it's worth seeing for the rare footage into both Banksy's physical and mental studio.

To tell you straight off, you're not going to see Banksy in the film. You're going to see a hooded figure, face blurred and voice disguised, that may or may not be Banksy, embedding the narration with signature Banksy quips. The most revealing clue into who Banksy is, who some sources peg as Robin Gunningham, is a wedding ring on a male hand, shown when the artist is at work. And that Banksy has a team of assistants, any one of whom could have played Banksy in the film, to help produce the massive work. But trying to peg the identity of Banksy is of course not the point of the film.

What you are going to see is a giant art world hoax surrounding amateur filmmaker, Thierry Guetta, turned amateur artist, Mister Brainwash. There's no information given on how involved Bansky was in the actual filmmaking, although by putting his name on the resulting work, it's clear he directed the narrative into a con story, a con named Mister Brainwash.

Thierry Guetta was a successful L.A. storekeeper who lived with a camcorder glued to his hand. After years of recording his day-to-day life, he stumbled upon something worth filming after visiting his cousin, the Atari-cum-mosaic inclined street artist Space Invader. He followed him for years, leading to his entry into the underground scene, filming the movement's multitude of stars: Swoon, Neckface, Poster Boy, Zevs, and Shepard Fairey. After failing to get any ins toward the most coveted subject of them all, Banksy, Guetta's luck changed when Fairey rang him up one day. Banksy was in L.A. and needed someone to show him around. Following his guidance into where to paint in L.A., Guetta gained Banksy's trust and friendship. As Banksy's entourage didn't contain a more worthy photographer, he began bringing Guetta into his more outlandish stunts, for posterity's sake, including the installation of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner inside Disneyland.

Tags: Angelina Jolie, Banksy, Brad Pitt, damien hirst, film, LA, London, mister brainwash, Neckface, Shepard Fairey, street art, Swoon, Theirry Guetta, Zevs

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Damien Hirst Pill Cufflinks

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Men's Style

For Damien Hirst fans who can't afford one of his multi-million dollar art pieces we have a smaller bit of design that can go with you everywhere: Pill Cufflinks. Coming out of Hirst's fascination with society's reliance on medicinal fixes and derived from his Pharmacy project, one side of each solid sterling silver cufflink is a tablet and the other side is a capsule. Each set is hallmarked, stamped with the Hirst logo, and presented in a black leather box with a black satin lining. A great gift for a collector, £650.

Via Switched On Set

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Tags: cufflinks, damien hirst, DamienHirst, pills

What Happened to Damien Hirst?

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

In 2008, an astounding 65 pieces by Damien Hirst fetched seven-figures each at auction. The total came to $230 million. The numbers are nothing short of staggering, especially when you compare it to what he did six years earlier, when the annual total for his work hit a mere $2 million. Clearly, some excitement was generated, and art collectors rode the wave. The last major sale was conducted at Sotheby's on September 15 and 16. "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever," as it was called, made a killing for the hottest living artist ... right before the financial world went to straight to hell. This bold move, however, led to a period of silence for the artist and stagnation for his collectors.

Shortly after the mortgage market mayhem became a global financial affair, unsold rates for Hirst's work shot from 11 percent to 55 percent by the end of the year. A mere 12 months after his he emptied the insides of his head -- not to mention plenty of inventory -- prices for Hirst's work returned to 2004 levels. A year after buying "Butterfly" painting "I Miss You" in late October 2008, Christie's unloaded it for a mere $450,000, only half what it had paid. In 2004, the piece's initial auction price was $415,000. I suspect this is at least part of the reason why the auction houses backed away from guaranteed minimum pricing ...

With the books closed on 2009, only two pieces by Hirst pierced the million dollar mark, both from the "Butterfly" series. "Tranquility" brought in $1.5 million back in May at an auction in Hong Kong. Almost half a year later, "The Importance of Elsewhere-The Kingdom of Heave" brought in close to $2 million, again at a Hong Kong auction. Both sales came from Seoul, not the usual New York and London communities.

Tags: art auction, art auctions, art collecting, art collection, art collector, art market, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, ArtCollecting, ArtCollection, ArtCollector, artist, Artists, ArtMarket, auction, auction house, auction houses, AuctionHouse, AuctionHouses, auctions, Christies, damien hirst, DamienHirst, Hong Kong, HongKong, Sotheby, sothebys

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High Hopes for London Art Auctions

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

The London art auctions are upon us, and a year has made a hell of a difference. The auctions at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips de Pury are expected to fetch at least $104 million, which would be an increase of 68 percent over the same season in 2009. If the houses can pull this off, the art market will probably breathe a collective sigh of relief after more than a year of downright awful results.

At this point last year, the art market was in miserable shape. It was already in trouble, as the recession had begun to crystallize over the summer of 2008, a process which was hardened by the financial market meltdown in September. By the end of the year, prices had plummeted, and the practice of guaranteed minimum pricing had generally been abandoned.

By the end of 2009, signs of a recovery began to emerge, though few were willing to commit to it. A few pieces, such as Andy Warhol's "200 One Dollar Bills" turned in strong performances, but nothing was solid enough to call a trend. Nonetheless, hopes are high for the next round of sales, which will include museum-caliber paintings by Peter Doig and Yves Klein. Shown at right is Andy Warhol's Dollar Sign estimated at $1,950,000 - $2,925,000 at Christie's London Post War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction on February 11.

Tags: andy warhol, AndyWarhol, art auction, art auctions, art collecting, art collection, art collector, art market, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, ArtCollecting, ArtCollection, ArtCollector, Artists, ArtMarket, artwork, auction house, auction houses, AuctionHouse, AuctionHouses, basquiat, Christies, damien hirst, DamienHirst, england, jean-michel basquiat, Jean-michelBasquiat, Jeff Koons, JeffKoons, london, lucian freud, LucianFreud, peter doig, PeterDoig, phillips de pury, PhillipsDePury, sothebys, yves klein, YvesKlein

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Artists to Watch in 2010

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

What does 2010 have in store for the art market? Well, it's starting to look like this is the year the market will finally (begin to) recover, though there could be some trepidation at points. Better pieces are coming under the gavel, and serious collectors are interested in artists with real track records. As things loosen up, emerging artists and those just past that stage (think Ben Krell for the former and Nelson Diaz for the latter) will start to see better conditions, as the logjam in the auction houses, once broken, should ease the pressure on galleries and also lead to some progress in private sales. Basically, the return of liquidity to the art market will be better for everyone.

Almost everyone.

This year, some artists won't enjoy as much of the recovery (if it happens ... just to hedge our bets) as others. Their prices were run up too quickly, making the subsequent fall severe. These artists, auction darlings who don't have the history or potency of a Lucian Freud or even a Richard Prince. Yet, they shot out of the emerging artist category years ago. In 2010, these artists, including Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, will occupy something of a purgatory, as the art market resets values through upward bidding, now that the decks have been washed clean.

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Tags: art auction, art auctions, art market, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, ArtMarket, banksy, BanksyGraffiti, basquiat, china, damien hirst, DamienHirst, england, francis bacon, FrancisBacon, jean-michel basquiat, Jean-michelBasquiat, Jeff Koons, JeffKoons, london, lucian freud, LucianFreud, phillips de pury, PhillipsDePury, richard prince, RichardPrince, sothebys

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Hirst and Koons Plunged, Collectors Regrouping

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Two of the biggest names in the art boom – which ended unceremoniously over the summer of 2008 – have seen their works fall by half this year. Pieces by Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, the hottest works under the gavel through the beginning of 2008, could take as much as 10 years for prices to recover.

With the art market in turmoil this year, the contemporary segment suffered, and art collectors steered clear of some of the riskier artists on the market, which included Koons and Hirst. Instead, they turned to Art Deco furniture and pieces from the Old Masters and China, which appeared prominently among the top 10 auction performers this year.

Hirst and Koons still outperformed the contemporary art sector, which fell 75percent overall, thanks in large part to the auction houses' abandoning of guaranteed minimum prices.

According to Artprice, the art auction market surged by a factor of 10 from 2003 to 2008, with its price index for works by Hirst up 996 percent for the 10-year period ending in September 2008, with his "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever" event.

So, now may be the time to snatch up Hirst and Koons. It may take a decade for these artists to see their prices recover, but they did pretty well over the past 10 years.

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Tags: art collecting, art collection, art collector, art market, ArtCollecting, ArtCollection, ArtCollector, ArtMarket, collector, collectors, damien hirst, DamienHirst, Jeff Koons, JeffKoons

Damien Hirst

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