Is £250m artist Hirst losing his Midas touch?
The world’s richest artist, Damien hirst, seems to be losing his Midas touch.
Just months after enduring torrid reviews for his latest show in Venice, which reportedly cost him £50 million to stage, the shark pickler is closing his shops and galleries in New York and Devon’s seaside town of Ilfracombe.
hirst, who is worth £250 million, has made his home in North Devon, where he opened the shop and gallery just four years ago. The Manhattan operation — occupying 3,500 sq ft in trendy Soho — opened a year later.
The Other Criteria boutique on Ilfracombe’s Quay sells the pictures, butterfly prints and spin paintings for which the artist has become famous, with some items on sale for more than £10,000. ‘We have decided to move our focus back to creating art books,’ says a spokesman. ‘To that end, we will no longer sell prints, editions or merchandise. We’re also closing our store in Devon and our operations in New York.’
Some West Country residents might be relieved by this retrenchment, as they have long objected to the ‘Damien domination’ of the area, which has been dubbed hirst-on-Sea. he owns a restaurant, hotel and harbour properties and, in 2012, Verity, his controversial 67ft bronze statue of a pregnant woman, was put up in the town despite protests.
It’s been an annus horribilis for hirst, 52. In January, he was thwarted in his attempts to build a Utopian eco-town in Ilfracombe after a row with developers.
his Venice outing was also slated by critics, with one saying the ‘absurd’ Treasures From The Wreck Of The Unbelievable show ‘should be dumped at the bottom of the sea’.
hirst, who has three sons with ex-partner, Maia Norman, has been dating model Katie Keight, 25 years his junior, since 2014.