Sales round up

Damien Hirst's business manager Frank Dunphy has told media that the Hirst's diamond-encrusted skull has been sold to a group of investors for US$100 million in cash.

"Private dealer" Richard Polsky suggests that usually "buyers operating at the $100 million level would get a discount", but no go, says Dunphy.

Laurence Graff, London jeweler and art collector, "looked at the skull when it was on show and didn't buy it". He doubts that it was bought by "diamond people".



The sale of Shaun Gladwell's Storm Sequence at Sotheby's Melbourne on Tuesday night for AUS$84,000 is being reported as the first digital installation sold at auction in Australia.


In the same sale, Eugene von Guerard's The Great Lake, Tasmania went to "property developer Max Moar and his former wife, Iris Lustig, for their corporate collection" for $1.86 million. The painting was sold by "Victoria's cash-strapped National Trust".

Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Bill Bleathman made a call for the work to remain in Tasmania earlier this month - the painting was showing in the Gallery at the time as part of a state-wide touring exhibition staged by the National Trust to promote the work prior to the auction.

Images, from top:

Damian Hirst, For the Love of God, 2007. Image from the Bloomberg website.
Shaun Gladwell, Storm Sequence, 200. Image from the Sherman Gallery website.
Eugene von Guerard's The Great Lake, Tasmania 1875. Image from the Melbourne Age website

A showbiz accountant

An oxymoron? No! Frank Dunphy, 69-year-old accountant and Damien Hirst's manager.

The Guardian posted a fascinating interview with Dunphy by Sean O'Hagan yesterday.

Dunphy, who started out looking after variety acts, now also represents Tracey Emin, Jake and Dino Chapman and Ray Winstone. Both he and Hirst have a story about how they met (pick the one you like the most). However it happened, I see material for a solid Tuesday night movie here: how the been-around-the-block Irishman took the young and reckless artist in hand and made him the (financial) man he is today.

So, what can a show biz accountant do for you?

"Depending on who you believe, Hirst now takes either a 70 or an 80 per cent cut of gallery sales at White Cube and Gagosian. Before Frank Dunphy came on board, the split was the usual 50/50. 'Sometimes,' he says, 'it's even 90/10 in Damien's favour.'"

Which is interesting in view of last week's post, on Ed Winkleman's dissection of the 50/50 rule.