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While 218 of 233 lots found buyers at the September sale and 49 topped $1 million, at the contemporary auctions in New York this November, 11 of 17 works on offer at three houses failed to sell, and of six works expected to top $1 million, only one managed to do so. The works that did sell went for an average of 25 percent less than their low estimates.

Hirst's work also did poorly at Art Basel Miami Beach, where New York dealer Christoph Van de Weghe says he sold only two of eight works he brought, small "spin" and "butterfly" paintings that went for $160,000 each, less than their asking price of $185,000.

“The timing is not so good,” Van de Weghe said. “Today I’m telling my clients that it’s better to buy established artists who are dead and won’t produce.”

According to Anders Petterson, founder of the London-based art market research company ArtTactic, a survey of 150 collectors, dealers, and art advisers about Hirst found that “the feeling is that the Hirst market has been stretched a bit too far, almost as if it snapped and backfired.” Petterson predicts that with the flood of Hirst works on the market as a result of the Sotheby's sale, prices for his work will be reduced through next May. “We will see less of him at auction or we’ll see as many works but with lower estimates,” he said.

Sotheby's and Christie's both told Bloomberg that they'd make decisions about consignments and pricing on a case-by-case basis. But Robert Manley, head of contemporary art at Christie's, says an important work would likely have a minor price reduction, while a "pedestrian" work — a "spot" or "spin" painting — could be cut by 20 percent.

Petterson said his survey respondents were very clear about the effects of the Sotheby's auction on Hirst sales going forward.

“In hindsight, it was the peak of the market,” he said.