Here’s a bombshell for you: Damien Hirst is parting ways with his longtime gallery, Gagosian, reports Georgina Adam of the Financial Times. He will continue his relationship with White Cube in London. In a statement, Hirst’s company, Science Ltd., described the split as “amicable.” The YBA is widely considered the world’s richest artist (his net worth is an estimated £215 million, according to the Sunday Times). With an estimated turnover of $925 million, Gagosian is the world’s richest gallery, according to Forbes Magazine.
In a statement, Gagosian Gallery said, “It has been a great honour to work with Damien over the last 17 years culminating with the worldwide showing of the Complete Spot Paintings 1986-2011 at all 11 Gagosian galleries this year… We wish him continued success for the future.”
As Adam points out, Hirst’s departure follows news that another Gagosian blue-chip superstar, Jeff Koons, would hold an exhibition at rival David Zwirner Gallery in May. The announcement prompted speculation that Koons may be looking to leave Gagosian for good, although he has made no such announcement.
Hirst’s market has been having a rough go of it lately. His global spot painting spectacular earlier this year was reportedly a dud, and his works continued to flounder at auction this fall. In fact, works by Hirst acquired during art market boom times — between 2005 and 2008 — have since resold at an average loss of 30 percent, according to a November story in Bloomberg Businessweek. “He has way underperformed,” Michael Moses, a retired New York University business professor who maintains a financial index for art, said at the time.
Where Hirst will show in New York next is anyone’s guess. Or perhaps he’ll just go it alone. The bad boy artist is no stranger to making his own waves in the market: In 2008, he teamed up with Sotheby’s to auction off 218 of his works.
— Julia Halperin
(Photo by Kyle Chayka.)
Tags: Damien Hirst, Gagosian, Julia Halperin, News, White Cube
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he hasn’t underperformed, Michael Moss. You are looking at it wrong. Or maybe you don’t wanna see what it really is. The people that bought his work, are the ones that paid too much for it. It simply wasn’t at that point yet, but all these hedge fund people, figured so arrogantly that his work would just fly upwards, that they would be smart to buy high and sell higher. They were wrong. Maybe they should go back to just buying and selling stocks, and leave the art world to the REAL collectors.
You’re absolutely right, Cheech!
True Collectors buy art they love. They want to live with it to enrich their lives everyday. Not as a commodity to make money. The fact that it gains value is just an added bonus to keen collectors with a good eye who buy what they love.
Or… by deciding to go straight to auction with new work a few years ago, Hirst knocked out two or three speculative re-sellers over that same time– that 30% price increase was taken out of the market.
Hirst is done
Mr Hirst shows his true colors in the photo of him attached to this article. ‘Nuff said.
Being artist is really hard these days when you have no opportunity of any kind. Wile mister Hirst and many others are dominating the market shadowing any chances of other artists and taking all the money there is we are suffering of the hands of the people that has no idea what making art is and how hard is to compete with these guys because someone said is good not because really is good or valuable for the amount of the money they are asking. Time to change. There are lots artist in the world today doing great art include my self that has never had any kind of opportunities that need exposure and sales.
Look for the Damien Hirst Museum & Foundation to open in the next couple years, to be the exclusive permanent exhibitor & coordinator of all Hirst’s work on a going forward basis!