Hirst at Auction

From the New York Times:

LONDON — Against a backdrop of reeling financial markets and nervous investors, Sotheby’s and the British artist Damien Hirst forged ahead with “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever,” a highly publicized auction of 223 works, all by Mr. Hirst and all made within the last two years.
In a gamble that could have ramifications for other artists, Mr. Hirst was bypassing his dealers — the Gagosian Gallery, based in the United States, and White Cube, based in London — and taking his work straight to auction with a sale that began here on Monday night and concludes on Tuesday afternoon.
And there were signs that the bet was paying off: the first session’s total was $127.2 million, above the high estimate for the entire sale, $112 million....

And there you have it the recession has not slowed the art market. check the link if you want to read the rest of article. I particularly appreciate the quote by Tobias Meyer (head of Contemporary Art for Sotheby's) when he is talking about artists who are global in scope, like Hirst who's market is not as affected by local events.
For all intents and purposes this auction should have tanked, what with the financial sector in complete upheaval after this mornings news. But instead Hirst surpassed his high estimate, and his brand seems no less desirable. Normally a market flood like this one would be a bad thing, I guess we will just to wait and see. The sale continues tomorrow.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/arts/design/16auct.html?_r=1&oref=slogin