All about the Benjamins

British artist Damien Hirst produced For The Love of God in 2007. The platinum cast of a human skull was encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, real teeth and cost over £14 million to produce. The controversial piece was put on sale at the White Cube gallery in London on July 1st 2007 for an asking price of £50,000,000. Hirst insists he sold For The Love of God for £50,000,000 which would be the highest price paid for a single piece to a living artist.

In the midst of a global economic catastrophe, the already wealthy Hirst bypassed the auction house and sold 220 pieces of his own work for $212 million over two days this September. The biggest prices were set in the first day of the auction — with The Golden Calf, a bull in a tank of formaldehyde, selling for $19.7 million and The Kingdom, a pickled tiger shark, selling for $18 million.

• $4.4 million for The Dream, a unicorn floating in formaldehyde.
• $3 million for Reincarnated, butterflies and household glass.
• $3.1 million for Unknown Pleasures, a sculpture of gold-plated steel and manufactured diamonds.
• $2.1 million for The Incredible Journey, a zebra in formaldehyde.
• $243,000 for 28th Psalm, made of butterflies and glass.

Hectic.