Monday, September 15, 2008

Damien-Lehman

Sotheby's shares were dropping last week because of rumours that the Damien Hirst auction that starts today would go badly. Lehman Brothers has just collapsed. The timing of the auction thus becomes very bad for Damien, but very good for future historians of the end of an era of foolish money. Unless, of course, investors decide Damiens are a safe haven. Folly can be very persistent.

4 comments:

  1. Lehman going into Ch'11 may well turn out to be the only way for them to sort out the dross from the useful. It now depends how quickly they can return to the market with a solid picture.

    Vincent

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  2. Yesterday, Sunday 14th., my feelings on entering Sotheby’s were hardly those Hirst may have been trying to stimulate. Clearly, his goose is cooked. Andy Warhole composed Zeitgeist, at least. But here surely is the world record in the domain of the ludicrous and the preposterous.

    If Sotheby’s is hoping for $ 92m, I doubt they’ll realise half of that! .

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  3. Maybe Hirst could introduce a new kind of art, meta-art, which is the set of all his art in this auction. He could call it "Cremation" and Sotheby's would be auctioning the right to set fire to it in one huge pile.

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  4. Interesting article in the Evening Standard - Sotheby's have banned the journalist Ben Lewis from tonight's sale because he said some nasty things about contemporary art last year. They must be shitting themselves. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23555605-details/Why+I+was+banned+from+Damien+Hirst%E2%80%99s+%C2%A3120m+gamble/article.do

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