Not a single figure in the art world is an embodiment of the boom in contemporary art as Damien Hurst (Damien Hirst). This British artist /businessman 43 years old always plays on the big. Among his most famous works - a shark preserved in pafosnym titled «The physical impossibility of death in the minds of living»; giant bronze statue of a pregnant woman with half grazed the skin, a skull with diamonds worth 100 million dollars, as well as the installation with the pill «Sleeping spring», which even managed to hold for a while in first place in the list of the most expensive works of living artists . Hurst is one of the 200 most important collectors of art in the world and wants to to open its vast collections of the museum . September 15, аккурат in a tribute to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the auction house Sotheby's held an auction brand new works by artist , which alone probably will go down in history. Thanks to all those frills Hurst headed top most influential people in the world of art according to the magazine ArtReview .

According to the logic of things, who, like Hirst is not worth lamenting over the crisis on the art market, which is taken up on his pedestal? .. However, a British artist is not passing. It is certainly not poor by the world recession: the state is estimated at 200 million pounds sterling. Moreover, according to Hirst, the crisis is even necessary - it's time to market «healing». Oh is it over the past few years peregrelsya. Hirst does not even embarrassed that the crisis will force down the price of his own creations.

At the recent auction Phillips de Pury Hirst painting depicting four skulls was considered one of the top lots, but find it a buyer failed. The artist clearly states that the work was greatly overestimated: its lower estimeyt was $ 3 million. «Less than a year ago, I sold it for half that amount - he said. - In some ways it [the failure of the painting at auction. - Ed. ] well. We want the prices were more than adequate. People who buy the work, will not sell them on the same day. And the artist is and should be: you want your people hung your picture on the wall. If you are an artist, you will not drop out of art just because no one buys ».

«I think this [price adjustment. - Ed. ] quite so good because [the situation on the art market. - Ed. ] become simply impossible ... You start to think that you have some elected. I always thought that art is worth the money that a guy is willing to pay for it ».

Maybe the crisis on the art market means the end of «era Hurst». Phillips was not the only auction where the work of the artist remained unsold. Hurst on this point is not particularly upset. «Consumers have become more legible, have longer to think about what is worth taking. Four years ago you could buy something for my work of 50 thousand pounds. If now is the same, then do not worry about it. The fact that the rise must fall. How is John Lennon met briefly postrichsya, and someone asked him: «Why do you want your hair sostrich?» And he answered: «What I can do even if they were long?»

«If I want to sell new works, I will make the price lower. If people have less money than before, then you can either slam their doors and send all away, or wait until someone else obtained the funds for your work, or make them more affordable ».

Hurst said he was very afraid of the failure of his solo auction Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, which, as already mentioned, took place on the same day, when the collapsed bank Lehman Brothers. «I woke up and saw the morning so that the newspapers called this day the Black Monday - otkrovennichaet artist. - I became ill. I thought that perhaps they [Sotheby's. - Ed. ] did not sell. People looked at me, and I thought that now they are going to kill me. I do not know what can happen when there are falling, banks ». But it appeared that Hurst was not to worry about than: his personal auction yielded more than 100 million dollars. He said that the success of the auction was a huge success.

Despite the crisis, «lie at the bottom» artist is not going to. He has already re-enact their words that is going to make their products cheaper. Now in London Pangolin Gallery sold its new sculpture of a unicorn called «The dream is dead». By the way, for 500 thousand pounds. At a solo auction is almost the same unicorn left for 4.1 million. Hurst is also planning to produce several works in the spirit of «Golden bull», which was sold at Sotheby's for 10.3 million pounds. Expect that in the galleries, these works will cost much less.

Material prepared Yulia Maksimova

Sources: independent.co . uk , artinvestment.ru