Post by Taxigirl on Oct 19, 2004 9:38:14 GMT
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3755120.stm
Aspirin-styled bar stools, medical cabinets and other fittings from artist Damien Hirst's restaurant Pharmacy have sold for a record £11.1m.
More than 150 items from the famed London venue, which closed in 2003, went under the hammer at Sotheby's.
Auctioneers said they were "astonished" by the total - more than £8m higher than expected proceeds.
Among the items sold were a sculpture of Hirst's own DNA helix, rolls of silver wallpaper and several paintings.
A giant medicine cabinet, entitled The Fragile Truth, attracted the largest bid of the night at £1.2m, an auction record for a Hirst piece.
Two Martini glasses with an estimated price tag of between £50 and £70 eventually sold for £4,800.
Sell-out success
Hirst himself did not attend the sale on Monday, but said afterwards: "Suddenly my restaurant venture seems to be a success."
A spokeswoman for Sotheby's said about 500 bidders had turned out for the auction in London.
"We have been astounded by the response and by the total, which was far in excess of that predicted," she said.
"This was what we call a 'white glove' sale, a term meaning that every single item was sold."
Pharmacy, in London's Notting Hill Gate, opened its doors on New Year's Eve 1997 and soon had a reputation for enticing celebrity diners and the trendy art crowd.
Hirst saw off a challenge by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to keep the name Pharmacy, after he was accused of confusing consumers who could mistake it for a high street chemist.
It had been feared that much of the contents of the restaurant had been destroyed in a fire at an art warehouse in May, which destroyed works by artists including Tracey Emin and Rachel Whiteread.
'Enduring appeal'
Although some of Hirst's works were destroyed in the fire, the Pharmacy items had been stored elsewhere.
Oliver Barker, senior director of Sotheby's contemporary art department, said: "The sensational results are the culmination of months of hard work and the vindication of Damien's enduring appeal.
"We established several new records, not only in terms of the prices achieved but also in as much as it was the first time there has been an entire sale of works consigned by a living artist.
"Damien has definitely earned his place in art history - he is the utopian artist of our time."
Six Pharmacy ashtrays, expected to sell for £100, reached £1,600, while a pair of salt and pepper shakers went for £1,920.
Twenty rolls of the restaurant's distinctive wallpaper fetched £15,600.
Aspirin-styled bar stools, medical cabinets and other fittings from artist Damien Hirst's restaurant Pharmacy have sold for a record £11.1m.
More than 150 items from the famed London venue, which closed in 2003, went under the hammer at Sotheby's.
Auctioneers said they were "astonished" by the total - more than £8m higher than expected proceeds.
Among the items sold were a sculpture of Hirst's own DNA helix, rolls of silver wallpaper and several paintings.
A giant medicine cabinet, entitled The Fragile Truth, attracted the largest bid of the night at £1.2m, an auction record for a Hirst piece.
Two Martini glasses with an estimated price tag of between £50 and £70 eventually sold for £4,800.
Sell-out success
Hirst himself did not attend the sale on Monday, but said afterwards: "Suddenly my restaurant venture seems to be a success."
A spokeswoman for Sotheby's said about 500 bidders had turned out for the auction in London.
"We have been astounded by the response and by the total, which was far in excess of that predicted," she said.
"This was what we call a 'white glove' sale, a term meaning that every single item was sold."
Pharmacy, in London's Notting Hill Gate, opened its doors on New Year's Eve 1997 and soon had a reputation for enticing celebrity diners and the trendy art crowd.
Hirst saw off a challenge by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to keep the name Pharmacy, after he was accused of confusing consumers who could mistake it for a high street chemist.
It had been feared that much of the contents of the restaurant had been destroyed in a fire at an art warehouse in May, which destroyed works by artists including Tracey Emin and Rachel Whiteread.
'Enduring appeal'
Although some of Hirst's works were destroyed in the fire, the Pharmacy items had been stored elsewhere.
Oliver Barker, senior director of Sotheby's contemporary art department, said: "The sensational results are the culmination of months of hard work and the vindication of Damien's enduring appeal.
"We established several new records, not only in terms of the prices achieved but also in as much as it was the first time there has been an entire sale of works consigned by a living artist.
"Damien has definitely earned his place in art history - he is the utopian artist of our time."
Six Pharmacy ashtrays, expected to sell for £100, reached £1,600, while a pair of salt and pepper shakers went for £1,920.
Twenty rolls of the restaurant's distinctive wallpaper fetched £15,600.