If the auctions go well, Hirst will pocket something like £65 million, while the bypassed dealers who helped to make his name will walk away with nothing
Nobody familiar with Hirst's career will be surprised by what's on show: iridescent butterfly paintings...
...and, of course, a fantastical menagerie of new beasts in formaldehyde, including a zebra...
...a unicorn...
...a dove...
...a calf...
...a shark...
...and still more sharks
There are some truly spectacular pieces, such as a tawny bull calf with hooves and horns of 18-carat gold, preserved in formaldehyde inside a gold-plated tank
But many of the smaller works feel like they've been mass-produced to sate demand for Hirst-branded material
There is simply far too much on show, and a lot of the work is poor
The works now feel flat and decorative, pale imitations of once-strong work, like knock-offs of
Louis Vuitton originals
Too much of the show feels soulless and decadent, and smacks of an artist once famous for taking risks now resting on his laurels
