The Economist answers the burning question: Is there a market for Damien Hirst’s spot paintings? These works once sold for $1 million no matter when they were executed (oft times later examples were getting better prices than earlier examples) or whether anyone could determine the extent of the body of work.

Few examples have been seen on the art market since the milestone sale in Sept. 2008. But Christie’s was able to get £881,250 (substantially above the £600k high estimate) for this example during its Contemporary evening sale.

Here’s the Economist’s take:

More than two years after “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever”, the Sotheby’s sale that nearly suffocated the second-hand trade in Mr Hirst’s work, this price was wholesome enough that one commentator, Judd Tully, declared that the artist’s market was in “rehab condition”. Gagosian Gallery will be sure to have noticed. It is apparently preparing an international retrospective of Mr Hirst’s spot paintings with shows in every one of its locations—Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Athens, Moscow and Hong Kong, to name a few. The exhibitions are said to be scheduled for January 2012

The Market Sprawls (Economist)