Portrait of the artist as a brand; Art market; Damien Hirst's empire.(like most successful consumer businesses, Damien Hirst's empire is based on a strong brand and an efficient manufacturing operation)(Britain)(Brief Article)

Economist (US), The, February, 2001

AT AUCTION, Damien Hirst's pictures do not fetch the prices that the modern masters command. One of his paintings of rows of different coloured spots, up for auction at Sotheby's in London on February 7th, went for [pound]220,000, while Lucian Freud's "Large Interior W 11"-the most expensive painting by a living British artist-fetched [pound]3.3m in 1998. But as a businessman, Mr Hirst, the driving force behind the BritArt movement, is unsurpassed.

"Becoming a brand name is an important part of life," says Mr Hirst. "It's the world we live in." The happy conjunction of a strong brand with a wide variety of products, many of them low-cost, leaves him with enviable margins.

Mr Hirst, the 35-year-old son of a second-hand car dealer from Leeds,...

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