Art - Page 8

The skull caused a sensation when it first went on display at an exhibition of new works by Hirst at the White Cube in central London on June 3 -- not least because of its price tag. Some critics dismissed it as tasteless while others saw it as a reflection of celebrity-obsessed culture. Works by Hirst, who first made his name displaying diced and pickled animals, became the most expensive at auction for a living artist when his "Lullaby Spring" pill cabinet sold at Sotheby's in London for 9.6 million pounds. The skull is the most expensive piece to date by Hirst, already a millionaire several times over. The sale of the skull brings to $350 million the value of works sold from the June exhibition. Generally the gallery takes 30 percent and Hirst 70 percent of the proceeds. As an indication of the wealth he has amassed since being spotted in 1991 by art collector Charles Saatchi, Hirst, who financed the skull himself, said he couldn't remember whether it had cost 10 or 15 million pounds to make. He said from the outset he wanted the work, inspired by similarly bejeweled Aztec skulls, to be on public view. He rejected suggestions that his works were more a standing joke against the art establishment than real works of art.