 he most expensive and monumental piece of the sale, a partially gilded bull in formaldehyde solution, dubbed The Golden Calf, is estimated to sell between £8 million and £12 million.
Certainly not one to follow the rules, Damien Hirst continually captivates the art world. A Sotheby’s auction of his works this September promises to showcase more of Hirst’s fantastical, sometimes morbid, and somehow immortal works. For an artist who feels that auctions are the most democratic means of selling art, a Sotheby’s auction is the ideal match. Hirst’s works have sold for as much as $100 million (For the Love of God, a platinum and diamond encrusted replica human skull), and the $19.2 million paid for Lullaby Spring (a 10-foot steel cabinet filled with hand-painted pills) made him the auction world’s priciest living artist; as well as arguably the most affluent.
Aptly titled Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, this auction of entirely new works (created over the past two years) provides a multitude of art pieces-223 to be exact-that haunt in the most delightful way. The most expensive and monumental piece of the sale, a partially gilded bull in formaldehyde solution, dubbed The Golden Calf, is estimated to sell between £8 million and £12 million. Other formaldehyde works in this auction include: The Kingdom (a suspended tiger shark), The Dream (an arresting “unicorn”), and The Incredible Journey (a nomadic zebra).
This sale will include much besides the infamous formaldehyde sculptures-of-sorts. Alongside these behemoth works: dot paintings and drawings cabinets of industrial diamonds, butterfly mosaics, and spin paintings integrating (what else) skulls.
Continuing in the altruistic vein in which Hirst has previously traveled (in February Hirst conducted the (RED) auction alongside U2 front man Bono, raising $42.58 million to benefit HIV/AIDS relief programs throughout Africa), the September sale will include four pieces designated specifically by Hirst to benefit certain charities. For Demelza, Hospice Care for Children, Hirst created Beautiful Love Demelza Painting with Beautiful Butterflies. For Survival International, Hirst generated Beautiful Love Survival Painting with Beautiful Butterflies. To promote Strummerville, the Joe Strummer Foundation for New Music, which aims to create new prospects for aspirant musicians, Hirst fashioned Beautiful Love Strummerville Painting with Beautiful Butterflies. For Kids Company, which affords inner-city youth with practical, emotional, and educational support, Hirst created Beautiful Love Kids Co Twenty-Five to Ten Painting with Beautiful Butterflies. All are estimated to sell between £400,000 to £600,000.
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