Hirst sale breaks artist record

Hirst's zebra in formaldehyde only fetched half its estimate

A two-day auction of art by Damien Hirst has set a new record for a sale dedicated to one artist of £111m.

Sotheby's in London was crowded on for the final session of The Beautiful Inside My Head Forever sale, which has featured 223 lots.

But there were some surprises during bidding - a zebra in a tank of formaldehyde sold for just over £1.1m, half its lowest estimate.

It is the first time an artist has sold a substantial body of work this way.

Other works far exceeded the auction house's estimate, with a foal in formaldehyde in a steel and glass tank, entitled The Dream, selling for £2.3m on Tuesday morning.

Unknown Pleasures, a piece made from gold-plated steel, glass and manufactured diamonds that was expected to sell for between £400,000 and £600,000, eventually sold for just under £1.8m including buyer's premium.

A butterfly work of art entitled Reincarnated also fetched £1.6m, well in excess its £700,000 estimate.

Art expert Charles Dupplin congratulated Sotheby's and Hirst on the sale.

He said: "It's another landmark and an astounding day for the art market in a year that has seen many long-standing records demolished, despite the gloomy world economy."

On Monday, a work entitled The Golden Calf - a bull in a tank of formaldehyde, with its head crowned by a gold disc - sold for £9.2m, the highest price ever paid for a Hirst at auction.

The artist took a risk by offering the 223 pieces of new work directly through Sotheby's rather than a gallery, but Hirst said it was a more democratic way to sell art.

All but five of the lots sold and he will save millions by cutting out a hefty dealers' commission.

The previous record for a sale dedicated to a single artist was set in 1993 for works by Picasso, which went for a total of $20m (£11m at 2008 prices).

Sotheby's total of £111m includes the buyer's premium.