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Hirst is all heart as children's charities are boosted by £111m sale
Elizabeth Hopkirk and Louise Jury17 Sep 2008
Two London children's charities were celebrating a £1.4 million windfall today after Damien Hirst gave them a slice of his record-breaking £111 million art auction.
The proceeds from a pair of the artist's heart-shaped butterfly paintings will be given to Kids Company, a charity for vulnerable inner city children, and to the Demelza Hospice, which cares for children with terminal illnesses.
Strummerville, a London-based music charity set up in memory of the Clash's Joe Strummer, will also benefit from Hirst's largesse.
Two further charities - Survival International, which helps indigenous peoples around the world, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - are also to receive sums of around £1.2 million. In total, £3.5 million went to five charities.
Hirst's philanthropy emerged today after the Sotheby's auction over the past two days raised £111 million. That shatters the previous record for an auction dedicated to one artist - previously held by Picasso for a 1993 auction which fetched £12.9 million.
The Demelza Hospice Care for Children, which will receive £769,250 from the sale of Beautiful Love Demelza Painting with Beautiful Butterflies, said the money would be used to complete a £6.5 million hospice in Greenwich.James Hanaway, director of fundraising, said: "This is wonderful, overwhelming news. It was so exciting watching the price go up and up. It costs £15,000 a day just to keep our services going so this gift will allow us to finish the building project."
Camila Batmanghelidjh, founder of Kids Company, revealed that on top of last night's donation Hirst, 43, had secretly donated proceeds from another painting at Christmas, when the Peckham-based charity nearly folded. Hirst's manager Frank Dunphy also made a cash donation, leaving the charity £1 million richer. The sale of Beautiful Love Kids Co Twenty Five to Ten Painting with Beautiful Butterflies netted Kids Company £668,450, which will be used to fund 25 art therapists who work with more than 11,000 severely traumatised under-14s.
Ms Batmanghelidjh said: "I was praying for him sell it all. People like Damien Hirst deserve to get rich because they share their wealth and do it without an announcement.
Reader views (15)
Jacqui, London - "Not true Art"? So, it's your decision is it?
Rothko, Malevich, Pollock, do you consider their work to be art? All work that would be all to easy to replicate. All three span the last century. Not a 'modern' art phenomenon then eh?
Anthony M, Malvern
- Ant, Malvern, 17/09/2008 22:12
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I guess that will just about enough to pay some charity executives' bonuses.
- Lauren, London, 17/09/2008 21:54
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A fool and his money are soon parted - that's what I say to those who bought at the auction. 3.5M out of 111M - better than 0 but he could have contributed a LOT more - how about 11M leaving him with a cool £100M?
- P Wyeth, Southend Essex, 17/09/2008 13:45
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So, the Emperor has sold some of his New Clothes! It beggars belief, the investors must be blind. Your art critic, Ben Lewis, aptly summed it up in his article, "Who put the 'con' in contemporary art"? Even the art schools have been sucked in to this ridiculous phenomena of conceptual art or installation art, or whatever they call the new 'movements'. Can't they see, it's all pseudo rubbish, not true art.
- Jacqui, London, 17/09/2008 13:00
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I agree with Sara's comment. It's a vulgar and egocentric display of greed and if he really did want it kept private then why's it in the press?? Hmmm...
- Sophie, brighton, england, 17/09/2008 12:56
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I can't understand people who moan about Hirt's success. It literally beggars belief that someone could cliam that he's selfish.
If you do the maths on his charity donations : 3.89% of his recent earnings went to charity. If you earned 40 thousand last year, the equivalent donation would be £1,556 - did you donate that much last year? I certainly didn't and I salute Hirst both for doing so and the charities he picked. Good on 'im.
- N Taylor, London, 17/09/2008 12:53
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For goodness sake Sarah, get your head out of the sand.
Well done to Mr Hirst. And I hope he has a really good PXXs up on the rest of the money.
- Anom, Leicester, 17/09/2008 12:37
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in the current world finacial climate are charities not lucky to recieve any substatial donation?
at least he has given something,tax dodge or not.
and lest not forget the fool that bought a golden cow hoof perhaps they could have just given the money to charity in the first place at least that would have generated them some free advertising, or perhaps they bought "on the quite" so not to bring to anyones attention what a huge ssum of money they wasted!!!
- Rich Norkett, engand, 17/09/2008 12:30
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Thats her wages sorted for a while, maybe some spent on the clothing allowance?
- Colin, Poole UK, 17/09/2008 12:29
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Sarah, Irrelevant of how much money Damien made he was still kind enough to give a proportion of this to charity. Millions don't
- Paul Richardson, Newcastle, 17/09/2008 12:10
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money to charity = less income tax to pay = sleep much better at night = flog some more rubbish/volgar art objects =
- Zorz Mambudu, london uk, 17/09/2008 12:00
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Does Damien Hirst tell Sarah Wilde how to spend her money? What a ridiculous comment.
- Gillian, greater manchester england, 17/09/2008 11:55
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Perhaps he could consider donating to the Shark Trust and The Shark Anti-Finning campaign to go some way to make up for the needless killing of an endangered species in the name of art.
- Angela, Reading, 17/09/2008 11:21
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Fantastic!
Damien is the modern day Robin Hood but he doesn't steal money, the imbeciles fight each other to give this guy money.
- Donald Massey, Macclesfield, 17/09/2008 10:56
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Are we meant to warm to Hirst after boasting his charitable side ?
Hirst has managed to pull off the scam of the century without breaking the law - that I do give him credit for. But what does this miser do with the remaining 107 million I wonder - more tacky shopping sprees, ostentatious jewelry, vulgar cars, tasteless houses, his own artworks ?
I beggars belief how someone can be so egocentric and selfish. I wonder how he settles his conscience at night ?
O, I forgot - childrens' charities !
- Sarah Wilde, London, UK, 17/09/2008 10:39
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