Saatchi Shark For MoMA

Damien Hirst's tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde has been sold by gallery owner and art magnate Charles Saatchi to an anonymous American collector. It will be donated to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where it will reside alongside other landmark works by Picasso and Van Gogh. The sale is a blow to Tate Modern, which turned down a Saatchi offer to donate his entire 200 million pound collection - including the shark. Saatchi bought the shark for 50,000 and sold it for 7 million. It sparked the Brit Art movement, including the Emin unmade bed and the Ofili elephant dung portrait of the Virgin Mary. New York banned a Hirst work ten years ago. Health officials warned his rotting cow and bull would 'prompt vomiting among visitors'. Irish Art