Comment: Will next Monday finally show the superrich are being squeezed?
Next Monday Sotheby’s hosts possibly the most anticipated art auctions of the year – the latest works by British super-artist Damien Hirst.
That’s because the prices paid for Hirst’s work during the last ten years represents as good as any bellwether on the rise and rise of the global superrich.
Indeed, if you were to draw a graph of the prices of the artist’s work and the spectacular growth of the wealth of billionaires they would most probably track each other pretty much identically for most of the last boom period.
Whether or not you admire the artistic merit of Hirst – some think his work is more about hype than art – one has to acknowledge his business acumen in making millions out of his art by turning its ownership into a “trophy” of the newly minted superrich.
But will September 15 confirm the two lines of the graph continue to track each other upwards, providing further evidence that the world’s superrich have decoupled from the current economic downturn and are as rich as ever?
Hirst might not care either way – he’s already made a fortune of at least £200m, enough for a few generations of the family to live very rich lives.
And the artist might be superrich himself, but Hirst has for years discreetly mocked the world the very rich inhabit through his work – so may be he cares little about all the money he’s made.
Those who have a vested interest in making sure Hirst succeeds – Sotheby’s, his Irish manager, Frank Dunphy – and probably much of the rest of the “Brit Art” artists whose success is closely linked to the fortunes of the iconic Hirst – will be hoping the show keeps on rolling on.
Indeed, evidence abounds that there is still plenty of hype in the contemporary art market – buyers from the new rich in countries like Russia, the Middle East and Asia are picking up the slack from traditional buyers like financiers from New York and London.
But, even with Russia billionaire Roman Abramovich expected to buy works from the auction to help fill his girlfriend’s newly opened art gallery in Moscow, interest from the superrich in Hirst’s art has probably peaked.
Already the artist’s diamond-studded skull – on the market for an alleged £50m – has been on sale for more than a year. Billionaires have shown little interest, say art critics.
And it’s just probable that next Monday the superrich will confirm their growing reluctance to pay huge sums of money for Hirst’s work – confirming that even they are feeling the squeeze, or at least waking up to the Hirst hype.
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