Damien Hirst Is Still the UK’s Richest Artist—With a Net Worth of $384 Million, According to the Sunday Times’s ‘Rich List’

The Sunday Times released its annual “Rich
List” this weekend, an equally loved and hated pecking order of the
wealthiest thousand people in the UK.

When it comes to the art world’s presence on the list, only two
UK artists make rank: Damien Hirst and Anish Kapoor, who are still
holding their places since last year. And while
overall the riches have slumped for Britain’s 1 percent, plenty of
art collectors still make the cut. The Russian-born, UK-based art
collector Roman Abramovich moved down a few slots from ninth on the
list to 12, apparently losing some £1.07 billion ($1.3
billion) in assets. And mega-collector Charles Saatchi lost around
£15 million ($18.29 million) in the past year, consequently sliding
back from 830th place to 915th.

The news that many of the billionaires’ riches have dwindled
in the past
year as the UK economy continues to waver in the face of
Brexit and the pandemic was met with grumbles on Twitter. The
headline, “Britain’s Wealthiest Lose Billions to Coronavirus,” did
not win much favor on social media: “Does anyone apart from me find
the Sunday Times rich list bordering on the obscene at a time like
this?” wrote one Twitter
user.

In June, Hirst is set to open a major exhibition at the
Fondation Cartier in Paris, which has been two years in the making
and is still set to go ahead. Hirst, who once bragged about
making “double lottery rollover weekends” of £40 million in a week,
did not make any more money this year than he did last year, coming
in at a comfy £315 million ($384 million).

However, other prominent UK collectors have apparently managed
to grow their wealth over these turbulent times. Leonard
Blavatnik, who has donated millions to Tate Modern and the Victoria
& Albert Museum, leads the art world herd at number four again,
with an estimated net worth of £15.8 billion ($19.2 billion), up
£1.4 billion ($1.7 billion).

Meanwhile, Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster, and his
family—who have a collection of enviable masterpieces by the likes
of Diego Velázquez and Rembrandt—have added to their wealth. The
family, which is worth £10.3 billion ($12.56 billion), grew their
assets by a rather staggering £195 million in the past year. And
Victoria Beckham, a recent champion of female Old
Masters, and her husband David Beckham gained £15 million
(18.3 million), giving them a total of £370 million ($451 million)
in wealth and spot 354, up from 372 in 2019.

Poju and Anita Zabludowicz, who own the Zabludowicz
Collection in London, have kept their books balanced this year.
They are tied at 95th place with a cool £1.5 billion ($1.8 billion)
in wealth. And renowned art collector Janet de Botton, known
for collecting works by Carl Andre, Gilbert & George, Cindy
Sherman, Roni Horn, and other artists, slid back a few spots from
606th on the list to 610th, despite a wealth of £200 million ($244
million).

Other art-affiliated figures from royal stock include Charles
Gordon-Lennox, Duke of Richmond, an art collector whose wealth went
up £2 million ($2.44 million) million to £228 million ($278
million) and the Marquess of Bute, who moved up to 774th place from
825th last year, with a total wealth of £158 million ($193
million).

The post Damien Hirst Is Still the UK’s Richest Artist—With
a Net Worth of $384 Million, According to the Sunday Times’s ‘Rich
List’ appeared first on artnet News.