Will Sotheby’s show become a nightmare for Damien Hirst?

Damien Hirst held a private view for a glittering crowd at Sotheby's, London at the weekend ahead of tonight's big auction where he has put 200-plus artworks up for sale. Moscow gallery owner and Roman Abramovich squeeze Dasha Zhukova (pictured above with Hirst) showed up, as did Old Vic director Kevin Spacey, U2 front man Bono and a few of London’s bright young things: Lily and Alfie Allen, Jaime Winstone and Mark Ronson.

Whether any of them show up tonight to bid, given the worldwide economic gloom, remains to be seen. Hirst has disclosed that he has suffered a recurring nightmare in recent weeks: the auctioneer declares that the bidding is underway but nobody raises their hand to bid. "The galleries have convinced everyone not to bid," says Hirst, explaining the dream. "It's risky I know. But it's too late to worry about it now."

Hirst has chosen to bypass his dealers Larry Gagosian in New York and Jay Jopling of the White Cube in London and instead taken his work straight to auction. Other artists will be watching with interest to see how he fares, not to mention dealers worried that he might be starting a trend.

But a more valid reason for Hirst's nightmare is the financial climate. The auction takes place at the worst possible time - the same day Lehman Brothers goes bankrupt and shares around the world crash. Will the hedge funders and other wealthy collectors who love to buy Hirst's work feel confident enough to bid this evening?

An indication of the artist's anxiety has been the effort he has put into marketing. Before the private view at Sotheby's, he invited potential bidders to his Gloucestershire studios, including the fashion designer Miuccia Prada, the Ukranian businessman Victor Pinchuk and Christie's owner, Francois Pinault.

Estimates for items in the auction range from £8m to £12m for a 'golden calf', £3m-4m for a pickled shark and around £1m for a case of used cigarette butts. But those estimates were set before banks started going to the wall.