Damien Hirst is considered a safe bet in a troubled art market
Photo: Andrew Russeth
I am spending a lot more time at my desk these days. Sat with me at the moment is a copy of Gregor Muir’s rip-roaring 2009 memoir
Lucky Kunst: the Rise and Fall of Young British Art. On its cover, Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst exude Cool Britannia, not quite smiling out of a backdrop of Hirst-inspired spots. All are seemingly consigned to a 1990s London past.
The view from the 2020s is not so clear cut. Emin has pretty much become a national treasure with the dubious advantage of being too-long undervalued on the market. Neither can be said of Hirst, although he is certainly having something of a revival out of tougher times.