DAMIEN HIRST—AN ART MARKET BUBBLE?.

DAMIEN HIRST AND THE ART MARKET. Damien Hirst is the world’s richest artist. Hari Kunzru in the Guardian (March 16) had an article about the market for Hirst’s art, raising the possibility that current prices could represent a bubble. Kunzru’s article reads like a stock market analyst’s report. He says that the artist’s future reputation “is not as secure as it might appear.”

I posted here about Hirst’s January exhibit worldwide of 331 of his spot paintings. (There are about 1400 of them, following the rules that they consist of enamel dots on a white background arranged in a grid at intervals equal to the diameter of the dots and that no color can be repeated). Kunzru says: “Investor confidence is the key to understanding the unprecedented Gagosian show of Hirst’s spot paintings.” He asks about the Hirst spot paintings: “Do they have a future as anything more than wallpaper?” The question is whether the spot paintings are desired for themselves or as speculative investments bought in hopes of continuing price increases.

Kunzru notes that at the moment contemporary art is doing well compared with alternative investments and that Hirst’s work is doing better as a financial investment than contemporary art in general. And Hirst is still investing in the manufacture by employees of ambitious art works. Kunzru concludes his report: “[Hirst] recently announced that he has enlisted two assistants to paint 2m tiny spots on a canvas. He estimates that it will take them nine years to complete.”