Highbrow

Hirst: My Art is Overpriced

Artist looks forward to more modest returns.

Call it the dead bear market. It was only week ago that Damien Hirst had a record-setting $200 million auction, and everyone was saying the art market would be shelter from the coming financial storm. Even Hirst now says that you can chalk that up as wishful thinking. According to the Independent, Hirst said that the price of art was inflated and that he's looking forward to selling his artworks more cheaply. Last week, Hirst's painting of four skulls, expected to sell for $3 million at auction failed to find a buyer. Hirst called the painting "over-priced," and suggested that the economic downturn will force collectors to hold onto their artworks. "That is what an artist wants, for people to hang the works on their wall."