Hirst Painting Sells for £200 at Auction

How much is art really worth to you? Do you buy it for love-love or status-love? If you knew it was a fake would you still want it? Like that Ab Fab episode in which Edwina gets a pair of earrings for her birthday and asks: "Is this real Lacroix or it's just in a Lacroix box?" Daughter Saffie replies:"Does it matter? And Eddie responds "I love IF it's Lacroix!"

Painter Damien Hirst, UK's most bankable artist, wanted to know just that and festival organizer Kevin Allen came up with an idea. A "mock" art auction of 41 unsigned, anonymous works was set up and news were leaked that there would be an authentic Hirst piece among them. They would have to guess which one was the real one as the pieces were deliberately misleading, done to resemble Hirst's art style. In attendance at the Flatlake Arts and Literary Festival in Ireland were some of the country's most prestigious art dealers and media types. In trying to guess which one was "the one", buyers paid up to £5,000 for works they mistook as being Hirst's, including a sculpture entitled Two Rats in a Drainpipe, made by three A-level students from West London. Film producer Allan Maloney was the lucky one who managed to snap up Hirst's Spin for a mere £200.00!

Hirst donated the painting, which he created for his 'Spin' series, hoping it would go to someone who really liked it.

I wonder how he feels about the fact that Maloney immediately offered up the painting for auction again, selling it for £95,000 to Irish gallery owner Kevin Spillane.

I had talked about Hirst here a few days ago but this new mention was worth another post.

Via The Independent