In the span of four years, his auction revenue jumped more than 2,400 percent. Sales totaled $9.1 million in 2005 and spiked to $230.9 million in 2008, according to Artprice.com. That year, Hirst bypassed his galleries and put more than 200 artworks up for sale at Sotheby’s in London. The auction began on the same day Lehman Brothers went bankrupt.
A Peak
The event tallied $199 million -- and marked the peak for Hirst. In the ensuing years his market suffered even as the high-end art business took off again.
In 2015, his total auction revenue was $20.5 million, according to Artprice. Just one of his works, a glass cabinet filled with cast pills, sold for a record $19.2 million in 2007. The artist doesn’t have a single work in the upcoming semi-annual evening sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s or Phillips in New York next week.
“Damien is one of the most important voices of his generation,” said Abigail Asher, a partner at art advisory firm Guggenheim Asher Associates Inc. “The fact that it can happen to someone like him is a lesson. The market reacted badly to too much work coming all at once and to the amount of trading. When there’s too much speculation, it can backfire on the artist.”
Wilner, who has worked with Hirst since 2004, sees it differently. “Every artist has ups and downs,” she said. “I believe in Damien. It’s always a good time to buy his work.”
Wendy Cromwell, an New York art adviser who has seen the installations at Frieze and on Madison Avenue, agrees.
“I see now as an opportunity to get back into his market at a reasonable level,” she said. “He is a game changing artist and he will stand the test of time.”