Hirst Sculpture Springs a Leak

At least one parents' group is offended

(NEWSER) - Has bad-boy British artist Damien Hirst finally gone too far? The head of a parenting group says his latest work, a baby skull covered in platinum and bejeweled with 8,000 diamonds, will be “deeply disturbing” to bereaved parents. The skull used in For Heaven’s Sake is believed to be from a child who died before the age of two weeks during the Victorian era. Hirst, whose artwork has also included dissected sharks and pickled sheep, acquired the skull as part of a 19th century collection. More»

'How many calves in formaldehyde does world need?'

(NEWSER) - Damien Hirst’s artwork can be inscrutable to some, but count moody Morrissey as an outright hater. “Hirst’s head should be kept in a bag” for his use of dead animals, the singer opines in Interview —where he’s actually the one supposedly asking the questions of artist Linder Sterling. More»

Pablo Picasso's 'The Actor' is hardly the first expensive accident

(NEWSER) - The art student who tripped and tore a hole in a Picasso painting is probably fairly embarrassed—but will, perhaps, feel better knowing others can sympathize. The Independent lists nine other art catastrophes, some accidental and some not:

• Cy Twombly: A woman kissed one of his paintings, leaving it smeared with lipstick—she said she was “just trying to warm up” the white canvas.
• Qing vase: A Cambridge museum visitor slipped down the stairs, possibly thanks to an untied shoelace, and smashed a set of 300-year-old vases.

British artist's exhibit got much hype, but only because he's famous, say critics

(NEWSER) - “Bad boy of British art" Damien Hirst decided to put his headline-grabbing, conceptual art projects aside and return to painting. Critics, however, are not impressed with the exhibition of 25 new paintings, which opened today:

• “There are many painters in evening classes much worse than Hirst,” writes Tom Lubbock in the Independent. “On the other hand, you'd find quite a few who were better, too. To try to be accurate: Hirst, as a painter, is at about the level of a not-very-promising, first-year art student.”

Expectations low as auction houses try variety of tactics

(NEWSER) - After a 7-year boom, art auction houses are struggling as collectors hit hard by the recession close their wallets. Sotheby’s predicts it will pull in $179 million to $256 million at spring sales, compared to $742 million a year ago. As the spring events approach, auctioneers are employing an array of strategies to restore the market, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»