Hirst auction expected to fetch £65m

A major auction of new works by controversial artist Damien Hirst is expected to fetch more than £65 million.

Beautiful Inside My Head Forever features pieces created by the artist over the past two years.

Highlights include a zebra in formaldehyde and a new shark work.

Hirst is also selling The Golden Calf - a calf with a golden disc on its head and hooves and horns cast in 18-carat solid gold - which is expected to fetch £12 million alone.

Spot and butterfly paintings will also go under the hammer in the two-day London event as part of the 223 lots.

Sotheby's has said that if the sale fetched £65 million, it would be a record for any auction of works by just one artist.

The event follows the artist's Pharmacy Sale, which fetched £11.1 million in 2004 for objects designed for Hirst's Pharmacy restaurant.

Hirst's diamond-encrusted skull sold for £50 million last year.

Hirst has said: "After the success of the Pharmacy auction, I always felt I would like to do another auction.

"It's a very democratic way to sell art and it feels like a natural evolution for contemporary art.

"Although there is risk involved, I embrace the challenge of selling my work in this way.

"I never want to stop working with my galleries. This is different. The world's changing, ultimately I need to see where this road leads."

The auction takes place on September 15 and 16 at Sotheby's London.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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