Damien Hirst, who has consigned 223 original works for a landmark sale at Sotheby's next month, announced that he will stop making the spin and butterfly paintings that are among his highest-selling objects, reports Bloomberg.
Speaking in a video interview on Sotheby's Web site, Hirst also said that he will reduce his production of his iconic spot paintings and formaldehyde works.
The interview is part of a promotional campaign for "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever," the sale planned for September 15 and 16 in London and expected to net the artist — Britain's richest — more than £65 million ($121.7 million).
"I feel I've started series and I have to end them all," Hirst says in the video. "I set off to do an endless series of spot paintings, but then I got bored. I'm not that sort of person, really. I was going to use this exhibition to end everything."
"This is a reassuring message from Damien,'' said London dealer Ivor Braka, who owns several Hirst works. "Some people were beginning to talk about when this level of production was going to stop."
"We now know these works are finite," he added.
Hirst said he originally planned to stop production of all his lines, but "with the spot paintings, I've realized I'm doing 1 1/2-millimeter dots and one painting seven-foot-square will take me 20 years. So I figure I can do that for the rest of my life."
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