“For the Love of God,” the platinum skull that Damien Hirst studded with 8,601 diamonds and called art, has been sold. An unnamed investment group—perhaps requesting anonymity because this is the kind of purchase that gets you a reputation for being insane—will pay $100 million in cash for the piece, which had been on the market since at least June 3.
Less than two weeks ago, Eli Broad, who recently seized the “opportunity” to give Goldman’s GEO fund a bunch of money, warned that major losses hitting hedge fund managers would hurt the contemporary art market, and that many expensive pieces would go unsold. A spokeswoman for Broad declined to comment on whether or not her boss is currently in the process of removing egg from his face. Is the sale indicative of market woes being over or of someone having taste in “art” so bad he/she said “credit crunch be damned, I’ve got to have this thing” (or of Eli knowing nothing)? We say a little bit of both.
On a more personal note, we’re sad to say that it’s highly unlikely that Stevie Cohen, who owns Hirst’s dead shark, was the buyer, as SAC was down as much as 9% at one point this month (which we like to call: "SAC's worst. month. ever.").
Earlier: What The Market Hath Wrought
Hirst Sells Skull for $100 Million, Manager Says [Bloomberg]
Posted by anon, Aug 29, 2007 4:55PM
Ever consider that having an "unnamed investor group" buy the piece might be a face-saving way for the artist to pull it off the market? Certainly would make him look stupid to hold onto the $100m price point for too too long and have it just sit there. The art business is all about creating scarcity.