Going, Going, Gone: Damien Hirst’s pharmaceutical fantasy.
Remembering the “Pharmacy” auction of October 18, 2004, which offered the artworks and objects from the artist’s London restaurant.
O pened in 1998 by Damien Hirst, the enfant terrible of the Young British Artists, Pharmacy committed to its theme in every detail. Dining in the Notting Hill restaurant was like entering one of his medicine cabinet artworks—waiters wore Prada-designed surgical gowns, salt and pepper shakers took the form of glass ampoules, and the house wine was a bottle of “pH.”
Almost as quickly as it won a Cool Britannia celebrity clientele, however, the enterprise stirred controversy. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society threatened legal action over its name and, after a string of troubles, the restaurant closed in 2003. While on a passing bus, Sotheby’s auctioneer Oliver Barker spotted the contents being removed and had the idea for a radical auction—the first to offer works directly and exclusively consigned by a living artist.
The 166 lots yielded £11.1 million and the sale sealed his place in art market history. Following the auction, Hirst said, “Suddenly my restaurant venture seems to be a success.”
Right: The interior included a custom wallpaper with images of medicine bottles and pills. Photo: Paolo Reda - REDA &CO/Alamy Stock Photo.