Hughes Hates Hirst

“Instead of being the common property of humankind the way a book is, art becomes the particular property of somebody who can afford it,” Hughes says. “And when you have some Russian squillionaire who started buying art three minutes ago but has the GNP of Georgia in his pocket, how can museums compete? They can’t – which causes great social harm. Suppose that every worthwhile book in the world cost $1million ¬– imagine what a catastrophic effect on culture that would have.”

-- Robert Hughes, on the Damien Hirst mega-sale