Hirst on Richest List

Last year, for the first time, Hirst was registered on the Sunday Times Rich List of Britain's wealthiest people. Hirst ranked 40th with an estimated 100 million pounds ($194 million). In October 2004, he sold the contents he designed for a former London restaurant, the Pharmacy, for 11 million pounds in less than two hours at auction. Hirst is not only a major artist. He has also become an important collector. A selection of his holdings of other artists' work is on show through Jan. 28 at the Serpentine Gallery in London under the mysterious but evocative title "In the Darkest Hour There May Be Light." His artistic possessions -- informally valued by art-world insiders at between 20 million pounds and 30 million pounds -- largely consist of works by contemporaries including Koons, Sarah Lucas and the graffiti artist Banksy. But Hirst is beginning to reach back in time to acquire blue-chip pieces by Warhol and Francis Bacon. Irish Art