Damien Hirst, the British artist known for his controversial and thought-provoking works, has done it again with his latest project, The Beautiful Paintings. The project, a collaboration with HENI, is an A.I.-generated remix of Hirst’s Spin Paintings from the 1990s, but with a twist: collectors were given the opportunity to determine the colors, style, size, and shape of the works they wanted to generate.
In a nine-day sale that ended on April 10, Hirst sold a total of 5,508 paintings, including 5,109 physical artworks and 399 NFTs, generating an incredible $20.9 million in revenue. The largest size on offer for Hirst’s squares and circles (extra-large, 100cm in diameter) was the most lucrative, generating a staggering $11.6 million. Interestingly, circles proved to be nearly three times more popular than squares, and physical works were more popular than digital ones, with less than 10 percent of the works created being NFTs.
Despite claims that The Beautiful Paintings pushed the boundaries of art, the experience of generating the works on HENI’s dashboard felt more akin to customizing a pair of sneakers on NikeID in the early 2010s. However, this did not deter collectors from going big on the project.
Hirst’s previous project, The Currency, which straddled the line between physical and digital art, also proved the enduring popularity of physical works among collectors. In this project, collectors were issued physical and digital versions of the same work and then forced to burn one of them. The majority opted to ditch their NFT for the physical Hirst. Nonetheless, the project earned the artist upwards of $89 million.
Since gaining major art world attention in the late 1980s as part of the Young British Artists, Hirst’s work has come to be seen by collectors as a valuable investment. Hirst has even been one of his biggest collectors, engaging in unusual market practices such as buying back his own work, an act some have labeled market manipulation.
The Beautiful Paintings is yet another example of Hirst’s ability to push boundaries and challenge traditional notions of art while still generating significant revenue. The success of the project is a testament to both the enduring appeal of Hirst’s work and the growing interest in A.I.-generated art. As technology advances, it will be interesting to see what new creative possibilities emerge in the art world.
