Damien Hirst, the enfant-terrible of contemporary British art and creator of a diamond-encrusted skull, iridescent butterflies and animals preserved in formaldehyde, has a new project set to revolutionize the way artists sell their work.

The 43-year-old whose fortune is put at a billion dollars has linked up with top auction house Sotheby's in London to sell 223 of his brand-new works directly to the highest bidder - bypassing the dealer.

Hirst, Britain's richest living artist, says he is not doing it for the money, but wants to show that - successful - artists don't need middlemen to take 50 per cent of the profit.

"A lot of people believe artists should be poor, that you're not a real artist unless you are covered in paint with holes in your jeans," says Hirst.

Now, like Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso before him, he wants to change that perception. Dealers and galleries will be nervously watching whether Hirst, helped by fame, can succeed in his risky venture and make, as Sotheby's hopes, the cool sum of 65 million pounds (113 million dollars), minus the auction house's customary premium.

Analysts believe the sale could smash Sotheby's top estimate of 90 million pounds, with wealthy bidders keen to possess a piece of art that has never been owned by anyone else before - another new phenomenon on the auction circuit. 

Buyers from eastern Europe, and especially from Russia, but also from the Middle East, India, Asian countries and China are expected to be among front-line bidders when the new and dazzling Hirst creations go under the hammer next Monday and Tuesday in a sale entitled Beautiful Inside My Head Forever.

Sotheby's said its Moscow office has been inundated with requests for catalogues and, just before the show, Hirst's work travelled to New Delhi for the first time.

"I have had nightmares. I imagine it going: 'Lot 9 - no bids. Lot 10 - no bids," Hirst said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph. "But, whether it works or not cash-wise, the door will stay open. It seems sad that artists don't make money," he said.

Should others follow Hirst's example, dealers and galleries could face a bleak future, art experts believe.

Both the White Cube Gallery in London and the Gagosian Gallery in the US, with whom Hirst has non-exclusive sales arrangements, have insisted they are not worried by the new departure.

"They just hope that most artists don't have the power of the Hirst brand," commented one expert. "Damien Hirst is about to rewrite the rules of the arts market," Britain's Art Newspaper said. 

Appropriately, perhaps, the centrepiece of the Hirst show is The Golden Calf, a 2.10-metre bullock in formaldehyde boasting hooves, horns and a disc above its head in solid gold, encased in a tank with gold plated frame.

The item is expected to fetch up to 12 million pounds. A unicorn, a zebra, a shark and a winged piglet preserved in formaldehyde are among the highlights, with the list completed by Hirst's trademark sparkling butterflies, spot paintings and pill cupboards.

In the week before the sale, Hirst was busy fending off critics alleging that he functions like a businessman rather than an artist.

"Goya, Rembrandt, Velasquez, all of those guys, they were all thinking about the commercial aspects of their works," he said.

"But it's art first, money second. I've taken the risk that the art will outshine the money - I think it will, I hope so," he said.