Dunst not a fan of Hirst
British artist Damien Hirst has his celebrity fans – but actress Kirsten Dunst is not one of them.
The Superman star said Hirst was a “good actor” who charged too much for his work and didn’t even make it himself.
Hirst earned a reported £21m (€42m) in just two weeks when his pre-Oscars exhibition opened at LA's Gagosian gallery in February.
He was feted by Hollywood and Dunst was joined at the launch by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Courtney Love and Linda Evangelista.
Among the sold artworks were 28 of Hirst’s trademark ’butterfly’ paintings. Friends star Courteney Cox was said to have snapped one up for nearly £400,000 (€586,000).
But Dunst told Marie Claire magazine: “I was going to buy a print for £35,000 (€51,000) - a copy, not the painting, of the butterflies. Then I found out he has a whole studio of people who do the work for him and it only costs about £1,000 (€1,500) to make a butterfly thing.
“I think he’s a genius and a good actor, but I don’t think he should charge as much money as he does.”
Hirst remains most famous for pickling animals in formaldehyde.
His picked shark last changed hands for £6.5m (€9.5m).
Other works include his “spot paintings” – white canvases covered in multi-coloured dots.
But he caused ripples in the art world when he admitted he employed assistants to do most of the work while he added only the final touches.
“What I’ve been doing, which is probably a bit naughty, is finishing them,” he said. “I don’t like the idea that it has to be done by the artist, I think it’s quite an old-fashioned thing. Architects don’t build their own houses.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Dunst, 25, spoke about her love life.
She is currently dating Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell after a lengthy relationship with fellow actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
“It has to be instantaneous. I need to be blown away by somebody, otherwise I’m not interested,” Dunst said.
“I will never end up with an actor. I’m not saying I will never date one, but I will never marry one. To have both parents be actors is too much for your children and too much for each other.”
:: The full interview with Kirsten Dunst is in the June issue of Marie Claire, out this week.
