The Hip Near-Past For Sale

When it opened in 1998, the Damien Hirst-designed Pharmacy restaurant was the hippest thing in London. Maybe it was so hip it failed to outlive its opening moments, and last September it closed. Now the restaurant’s contents are being auctioned – relics of a singular moment. “There will be paintings with estimates of over $550,000 as well as objects expected to sell for under $100. A group of 10 of the artist’s much-loved butterfly paintings, each with a bright color background and each with love in the title, are estimated to fetch over $110,000. The auction will also have 11 of his well-known medicine cabinets and a molecular model sculpture with estimates each from $183,360 to $275,000.”