The Dream(Estimate£2,000,000 -3,000,000 )

On 28 JULY, 2008,Work on Beautiful Inside My Head Forever – a major auction of new works by Damien Hirst - has progressed and the full scope of this ground-breaking auction can now be revealed.

Including a whole new body of work that covers the complete range of Hirst’s output and more, the auction will run over two days, commencing with an Evening Sale on Monday 15 September and continuing throughout the following day (Tuesday, 16 September ) with a morning and afternoon session. The two day sale, which will include 223 lots, is expected to realise a sum in excess of £65 million. Estimates will range from around £15,000-20,000 (for a range of new drawings) up to the £8,000,000-12,000,000 estimate attached to The Golden Calf – the monumental and arresting centre-piece of the sale. Among the works to be offered will be new and exciting variations on many of the key themes that have defined Hirst’s work to date.

Damien Hirst said: “After the success of the Pharmacy auction, I always felt I would like to do another auction.

It’s a very democratic way to sell art and it feels like a natural evolution for contemporary art. Although there is risk  involved,  I  embrace  the  challenge  of  selling my work  in  this way.  I  never want  to  stop working with my galleries. This is different. The world’s changing, ultimately I need to see where this road leads.”
 
Cheyenne Westphal, Chairman Contemporary Art Sotheby’s Europe  and Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s Senior International Specialist,  said:  “Damien Hirst  is  the  leading artist of his generation. The extraordinary body of new work to be showcased at Sotheby’s is among his best yet: ambitious, exquisite and incredibly powerful.”
 
Jay  Jopling  said:  “Damien  has  always been  a mould breaker  and  I've  stood  alongside  him  in  all  his  ventures including his strategic  forays  into the auction world, which have certainly helped  to broaden his market. 8,601 flawless diamonds notwithstanding, ours has never been a traditional marriage and I look forward to many more adventures to come.”
 
Gagosian Gallery said: “As Damien’s long-term gallery, we’ve come to expect the unexpected. He can certainly count on us to be in the room with paddle in hand.”