The backlash begins; Hirst unlikely to give a shit

Last week art critic Brian Sewell declared that Hirst had "sold his soul to footballers' wives and the ignorant". The artist has always had his naysayers but recently people are stumbling over themselves to blame Hirst (reportedly now a dollar billionaire) for everything that is wrong with contemporary art.

Referring to the recent auction of two decades worth of the artist's work, Sewell commented that "what Damien offered in this sale was not the urgent originality of his ideas when young but their polished revision and repetition by the slave labourers on his production line".

It is not art, but the art market that now fascinates us. Channel 4 recently broadcast a series of documentaries on art and money, featuring esteemed art historian Robert Hughes, amongst others. Can you imagine a series like this getting a prime time slot a few years ago? Unthinkable. The art market is now worth $18 billion a year, and is the biggest unregulated industry after drugs.

I must have watched Hughes' Shock of the New videos dozens of times in A level History of Art lessons. I loved his gruff Australian delivery of insightful and sophisticated critique. His show on Channel 4 the other night, however, was very different. He came across as a bitter old man, hauling his overweight frame across the screen with the aid of a walking stick, mouth down-turned and eyes brimming with ennui.

No one escaped his vitriol: museum directors were called "Lucifers relying on plutocratic whims", modern-day collectors labelled "shameless self-promoters" and the existence of art advisors was likened to a "plague". What was most unsettling was Hughes' suggestion that the expansion of the Guggenheim and Louvre museums to the Middle East was a sinister franchise that devalued the original institutions.

Hughes concludes that works by Damien Hirst are "absurd" and "tacky commodities". Don Thompson, the author of The Twelve Million Dollar Stuffed Shark, an exposé of the contemporary art market, has said that Hirst's values are fuelled by branding rather than intrinsic merit. Whatever your opinion, there is no doubt that Damien Hirst is re-writing the rules of the art market. Roger Bevan wrote two excellent essays on this theme for The Art Newspaper, click here to read.

In preparation for Hirst's monumental sale at Sotheby's, the auction house hired the New York architect Peter Marino to transform a rabbit warren of tiny back offices into a suite of rooms for VIP buyers, with polished mahogany doors and walls lined with Mr Hirst's butterfly paintings. The space resembled a five-star hotel; several rooms had fireplaces and all were equipped with flat-screen televisions to allow buyers to watch the sale live and secretly bid by telephone.

The three-volume catalogue, which Sotheby's officials say cost about £150,000 to produce, is meant to be a collector's item too. Weighing five pounds, it has a special slipcase and can cost up to £100, depending on where you buy it.

The artist pocketed £95m from the sale.