Money is a large factor in the world we live today. Everyone seeks to make his or her own. Some careers guarantee monthly payments, whilst other careers are never certain. Artists unfortunately fall under the uncertainty of payments. An artist, depending on the time period, the pace at which they work, their popularity and the relevance of their exhibit, may make a lot of money or none at all. This puts the business into a crisis.
Artists generally have not chosen their careers for the inflow of income because of the uncertainty associated with the career. For some, they have chosen it because it is their passion, however in recent years, artists such as Damien Hirst have been accused of creating art for the sole purpose of acquiring more money. This puts the art business into trouble.
Damien Hirst, born in 1965, is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the Young British Artists, who were known to dominate the art world of the United Kingdom in the 1990’s. Over the years, his art has seen much controversy as it has developed into questionably artistic pieces.
Essentially, the controversy between art and money began when Charles Saatchi began to sell artworks for different prices then the artist had intended or than different galleries had done. Art began to be traded and sold for different prices as well. This made buyers and artists question the ultimate value of art and whether it even had a certain value.
The issue with Hirst lies within his artwork seemingly being made of pre-made pieces that he sells for out-of-this-world value. His works are controversial and therefore lead viewers to question whether they are as valuable as Hirst seems to think. His diamond embedded skull head named For The Love of God is valued at £50m for its platinum body and diamond-encrusted face. People questioned whether this should even be considered art or whether Hirst simply wished to make fair profit off of it.
His pieces and exhibits spawn controversy and question as to the value of art nowadays.
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