Hirst auction expected to fetch 65 million pounds | AFP

LONDON, July 28, 2008 (AFP) - A unicorn, a zebra and a calf in formaldehyde are set to highlight a sale in September of more than 200 works by Damien Hirst, auction house Sotheby's said Monday.

The two-day auction, titled "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever", of 223 works by the 43-year-old British modern artist, is expected to raise in excess of 65 million pounds (82.3 million euros, 129.6 million dollars), which would make it a record for any auction of works by a single artist, Sotheby's said.

None of the works of art in the September 15 and 16 sale have been seen by the public.

The highlight of the sale is likely to be "The Golden Calf", which features a calf, whose hooves and horns are cast in 18-karat gold and which has a gold disc on its head, encased in an aquarium filled with formaldehyde.

It is expected to fetch between eight and 12 million pounds by itself.

Based on the same theme of an animal in formaldehyde, Sotheby's is also auctioning "The Kingdom", a tiger shark estimated at between four and six million pounds, "The Dream", a foal made to look like a unicorn, and "The Incredible Journey", a zebra.

The latter two works are expected to fetch up to three million pounds.

Hirst is also putting up several works which feature the use of butterfly wings, including "The Rose Window, Durhal Cathedral", which is valued at between 700,000 pounds and 900,000 pounds. The auction also features four works, estimated to have a total value of up to 2.4 million pounds, being sold to raise money for charities.

Separately, buyers will be able to bid on a painting based on a photograph of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates observing Hirst's well-known shark-in-formaldehyde work, expected to bring in up to 300,000 pounds for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Hirst won the prestigious Turner Prize for modern art in 1995, and last year set the record for a work of art by a living artist when a diamond-encrusted skull by him sold for 100 million dollars.