Eyesore or artistry?

Damien Hirst, the artistic shark-pickler, has been criticised for keeping empty a couple of shops he owns on The Quay, Ilfracombe. Poor Mr Hirst. Or perhaps it’s because he’s rich Mr Hirst that he can do no right. He’s behind a seafood restaurant (crab, mussels, oysters and scallops; no shark) on The Quay, but a local publican has called the whited-out windows of his small nearby houses an “eyesore”. It’s a question of taste. Seaside towns look jolly with plastic buckets, shrimping nets and neon signs for ice cream and fudge. But they can also look down-at-heel, even in briny Devon. Mr Hirst’s houses are better painted than any artwork he has put his own hand to. They have bow windows and French doors in the local idiom. All in all they’re a prettier sight than Verity, the hideous 66ft statue he gave the ungrateful town.