Hirst Show Takes $290 Million

British artist Damien Hirst's latest solo show "Beyond Belief" at London's White Cube gallery, which closes this weekend, has taken £124.5 million in sales in just five weeks, the gallery said. And that does not include the star work, a diamond encrusted platinum skull whose sale for an asking price of £50 million ($116 million) is still under negotiation. Apart from the skull, the show has many new works by Hirst including pickled creatures, a dove suspended in mid-air, a flayed human statue holding its own skin and a series of pictures of a Caesarean birth operation on Hirst's wife. Hirst, who first made his name with diced and pickled quadrupeds, last month became the world's most expensive living artist at auction when his Lullaby Spring pill cabinet sold at Sotheby's for £9.6 million. But the diamond encrusted skull is by far the most precious piece to date by Hirst, already a millionaire several times over. When asked what his next project would be he immediately replied: “Two diamond skeletons shagging - no just kidding.” (For full source and article click the Headline). Irish Art