Damien Hirst's gallery White Cube has issued a statement via e-mail denying reports from the Art Newspaper and other media outlets that it is sitting on a "mountain" of unsold works by the artist.

As reported in Bloomberg, White Cube didn't specifically dispute the amount of stock the Art Newspaper said it had on hand — some 200 works, including 34 butterfly paintings, 35 spin paintings, six medicine cabinets, and two formaldehyde works — but rather said that the stock level was normal.

"The appetite for Damien's art,"  White Cube owner Jay Jopling said in the statement, "is such that we never have enough and I'm always keen to have as much work on consignment as possible."

The market for Hirst was strong and suggestions to the contrary were based on "redundant documents," he said, according to Bloomberg.

The announcement comes in the lead-up to Hirst's momentous and much-publicized three-session sale at Sotheby's on September 15–16, in which he will auction off 223 works straight from his studio.

At least one dealer is suggesting that Hirst is sending a message with the sale: "[The] Sotheby's auction is payback time for Damien," said London dealer Robert Sandelson, who in 2006 hosted an exhibition of Hirst works found on the secondary market. "He's saying to the dealers, 'If you can't sell these pieces, I'll find someone who can.'"