A few hours before the prominent auction organized by Damien Hirst,  “Beautiful Inside my Head Forever”, there were rumours about a possible failure of the sale, due to the worrying 8% loss of Sotheby’s title at the closing of Wall Street.   Besides Sotheby’s crash, we have seen the failure of Lehman Brothers, which has thrown the financial market into uncertainty.  However, Damien Hirst seems to be resisting to all of this economic chaos.  Indeed, in the first session of the auction held at Sotheby’s London on 15th September, the protagonist of contemporary art, who in the nineties was one of the main exponents of the YBAs (Young British Artists), truly astounded the art market with stratospheric takings for 70,545,100 pounds (about 90 million euros) and with 54 works sold out of 56. Outstanding takings although quite expected.  In London there are rumours about Hirst encouraging acquaintances to sustain the price of his works.  An evident economic strategy for an artist who claims not to be interested in money, although in the last years he has made about a billion euros.
“Beautiful Inside my Head Forever” follows the legendary “Pharmacy” auction, organized by Sotheby’s in October 2004. All the lots auctioned by the London house were sold totalling 11,132,180 pounds. Very far from the best presale estimate of 3.5 - 4.9 million pounds.
Damien Hirst said: “After the success of the auction sale “Pharmacy”, I immediately wished to do another auction sale. It is a democratic way to sell art and it seems a natural evolution for the contemporary art market. Although in effect some risks are involved. I embrace the challenge to sell my work at auction. Nevertheless, I absolutely want to continue working with my galleries. But this is different. The world is changing. And lately I have been feeling the need to see where this road leads.
But let’s get back to the success of “Beautiful Inside my Head Forever”. The diamond point of the first session was “The Golden Calf”, new monumental work by Hirst which consists in a formaldehyde calf, crowned by a solid gold circle, and with its horns and clogs dipped in 18-carat gold. Embedded in stainless steel and gold-plated and glass box. This unusual work that combines the English artist’s interest in science, religion, beauty and death, was offered to the auction sale public with an estimate included between 8 and 12 million pounds and it was bought for 10,345,250 pounds on behalf of a client by Bruno Vinciguerra, head of Sotheby’s New York house. An en plein for Damien Hirst at auction.  Indeed, the golden calf beat the previous record, achieved by the artist on 21st June 2007 at Sotheby’s London, when “Lullaby Spring” sold for 9,652,000 pounds, against the estimate of 3-4 million pounds.
During the first session of “Beautiful Inside my Head Forever”, another work achieved an excellent result, “The Kingdom”, a tiger shark made once again of formaldehyde, sold for 9.6 million pounds, almost the double of the experts’ estimate.  “Memories of Moments with you”, a sculpture made of steel, glass and diamonds, sold for 2.6 million pounds.
A spectacular sale which, from the start, had been anticipated as a success (more than 21,000 people went through the main doors on New Bond Street to observe the works of art), but which, on the other hand, represented a risky adventure, given that Hirst has a formidable presence on the market.  In the White Cube stores, the gallery that deals with the English artist, there are 210 unsold works, among which the famous skull of diamonds bought last year for 83 million pounds.
Thanks to this auction Damien Hirst’s heritage has become even richer.  Basically, the earnings, after purchasing taxes, will go straight into his pockets. To whom judged him to be too tied to money, Hirst replied that the idea of selling originated from the need to get rid of some works that, despite being realized with 180 assistants in the last two years, belong to his youth period.  “It is time for me to get engaged in something else, for instance I will no longer do collages of butterflies.  This is a way to turn page”. At the age of 43, he stresses, he knows that he is not immortal. He needs to renew himself. The commercial aspect is important, he specifies. “The fact that these works have a certain value on the market makes them seem particularly alive. The important thing is that money always follows art, and not the opposite”.
The auction “Beautiful Inside my Head Forever” has just ended and the accounts are already being done. During the Evening Sale held on Monday 15th September, 54 works out of 56 were sold:   takings for 70,545,100 pounds which, added to the morning session held on 16th September (24,292,400 pounds) and to the afternoon (16,627,300 pounds), total 111,460,000 pounds, equal almost to 140 million euros. (translated by Giorgina Arcuri)