Edie Lush attends the record-breaking Sotheby’s sale of Damien Hirst’s artworks, and wonders whether it is all a metaphor for the recent madness of financial markets
Last Monday was a historic day. Lehman filed for the biggest bankruptcy in history; the insurance giant AIG teetered on the brink; the Dow had its worst day since 9/11 — and in Mayfair an extraordinary event occurred at which seemingly few of those present had even heard of the credit crunch.
Buyers and gawkers queued outside Sotheby’s to get in for the historic evening’s sale of works by Damien Hirst. Minutes after it began, auctioneer Oliver Barker’s hammer went down on the first painting — a triptych of butterflies, manufactured diamonds and household gloss paint on canvas. Entitled ‘Heaven Can Wait’, it went for £850,000; a good start, against an estimate of £300,000-500,000.
The event continued with a shark in formaldehyde entitled ‘The Kingdom’ selling above the estimated £4-6 million for £8.5
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