Hirst's 'The Golden calf ' sold for $18.5 million, setting new record

Hirst took a risk by offering more than 200 pieces of new work through Sotheby's rather than a gallery. He said it was a more democratic way to sell art — and it also spared him a gallery's hefty commission. But if buyers had stayed away, Hirst's global brand would have been tarnished.

The most successful of the so-called "Young British Artists" who came to prominence in the 1990s, Hirst is famous for eye-catching works redolent of death and decay — pickled animals, rotting cows' heads, diamond-encrusted skulls. He employs a large staff to help him make his works, and some critics had suggested his prolific output was devaluing the work.

There was little sign of that Monday.

Hirst, 43, said the results of the sale showed "the market is bigger than anyone knows."

"I love art, and this proves I'm not alone and the future looks great for everyone," he said.

The results are all the more startling given Monday's economic gloom. The sale came as global markets reeled from the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.