Record start for artist Damien Hirst's London sale

By David Clarke

LONDON (Reuters) - Damien Hirst's bull in a tank of formaldehyde with its head crowned by a gold disc sold for 10.35 million pounds on Monday, a record at auction for one of the contemporary art world's stars, Sotheby's said.

The 43-year-old artist stunned the art world when he said 223 new works would be auctioned by Sotheby's in London in the first mass sale of its kind by a major artist.

The works on offer in the two-day sale called "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever" were created over the past two years and are expected to raise more than 65 million pounds.

They include Hirst's trademark animals in formaldehyde, butterfly and spin paintings, variations on pill cabinets and preparatory drawings.

The sale price for Hirst's "The Golden Calf," the bull which also has its hooves and horns cast in 18-carat gold, was within the 8-12 million pound estimate.

However, several of the first works to sell on Monday easily surpassed their guide prices.

"The Kingdom," a tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde, fetched 9.56 million pounds, way above the 4-6 million estimate. "Afterlife," a butterfly painting, went for 1.39 million, double the 500,000-700,000 guide price.

Hirst's previous record at auction was his medicine cabinet "Lullaby Spring" which sold for 9.65 million pounds in 2007.