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Art critic and former curator Julian Spalding has slated conceptual artists' work, saying Hirst's work in particular is 'the sub-prime of the art world' and will soon become 'worthless'.

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Advising owners of Hirst's work to sell quickly, Spalding wrote in the Independent: 'It's often been proposed, seriously, that Damien Hirst is a greater artist than Michelangelo because he had the idea for a shark in a tank whereas Michelangelo didn't have the idea for his David.

'What separates Michelangelo from Hirst is that Michelangelo was an artist and Hirst isn't.'

'He is probably right about later Damien Hirsts, which are more like luxury goods than art,' Arts journalist Georgina Adam told the BBC.

'But Hirst's earlier work did redefine the notion of art work. To condemn the whole of conceptual art is unfair,' she added.

Spalding said he coined the term 'con art', short for 'contemporary conceptual art and for art that cons people'.

Simon Todd from the online auction website ArtNet disagrees that the art bubble will be bursting soon: ''The contemporary art market is very strong at the moment both in terms of the domestic, international and growth markets,' Todd told the BBC.

'The credit crunch seems to have made little impact and the auctions that suffered in the two years post-credit crunch are not feeling the comparative ill effects now,' he added.

Spalding's latest book, Con Art - Why You Ought to Sell Your Damien Hirst While You Can is published next month.

Hirst's latest exhibition opens at Tate Modern on 4 April, running until 9 September.

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