“Much has been made of the commercialisation of art and Hirst’s tilt of the status quo – his decision to bypass the 50% cut of the dealer in favour of 15% at the auction house. The tacit position of dealers as unquestioned conduit of new works was, as Hirst has commented, established in the 19th century. That change, pioneered by Holman Hunt, required an act as audacious as Hirst’s, and far more significant: the circumvention of the Academy.”