2009
British artist Damien Hirst is widely considered the enfant terrible of contemporary art. He is the most prominent of the so-called Young British Artists, or YBAs, a group, largely composed of Hirst’s classmates at Goldsmiths, in London, that began exhibiting together in warehouses and factories after 1988 and is known for the use of unconventional materials and “shock tactics” in his paintings, prints, sculptures and other works.
In the 1990s, Hirst said, “I can’t wait to get into a position to make really bad art and get away with it.” And indeed, he is notorious for piquing critics and baffling the public with such pieces as his signature glass vitrines containing dead sheep or sharks in formaldehyde, and his diamond-encrusted skull, For the Love of God.
Working primarily in sculpture, Hirst takes after French modernist master Marcel Duchamp in his use of ready-made objects and materials, which he combines to ironic effect. He often creates in series, as with "The Cure (Violet)" and "The Cure (Turquoise)," both from 2014, which are among several pill paintings referencing Andy Warhol’s embrace of mass production.
Belonging to Hirst's ongoing series of “spot” paintings, begun in the 1980s, the 2005 piece Xylene Cyanol Dye Solution is striking for its machinelike, industrial uniformity and almost childlike simplicity, a seeming rebuke to the idea of the artist-as-genius.
In addition to making art, Hirst has launched stores that sell editioned works (Other Criteria), a restaurant (Pharmacy2) and even his own London museum (Newport Street Gallery).
Find original Damien Hirst paintings, prints and other works on 1stDibs.
H 39.5 in W 29.5 in
For the Love of God, Laugh
By Damien Hirst
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Damien Hirst (b. 1965) is one of the most divisive, high-profile, and arguably misunderstood artists of the contemporary era. (In)famous internationally for encapsulating a tiger sh...
Screen
H 47.25 in W 36.62 in
Selflessness
By Damien Hirst
Located in Manchester, GB
By Damien Hirst 2024 Laminated Giclée print on aluminium composite panel 120 x 93 cm Edition of 578
Metal
H 47.25 in W 36.62 in
Realisation
By Damien Hirst
Located in Manchester, GB
By Damien Hirst 2024 Laminated Giclée print on aluminium composite panel 120 x 93 cm Edition of 395
Metal
H 19.69 in W 15.56 in D 1.38 in
Damien Hirst -- Work from the Limited Edition Book "The Souls"
By Damien Hirst
Located in BRUCE, ACT
Damien Hirst Work from the Limited Edition Book "The Souls", 2011 Three color foil block print Image: 23.5 x 14 cm Frame: 50 x 39.5 x 3.5 cm Ed. 31/100 Signed and numbered in white ...
Foil
H 5.71 in W 5.52 in D 8.27 in
Damien Hirst - Abacus, hirst, skull, silver, sculpture, contemporary art
By Damien Hirst
Located in London, GB
Damien Hirst (b.1965) Abacus - The Dream is Dead 2007 silver 14.5 x 14 x 21 cm incised, titled and numbered ‘Abacus Damien Hirst The Dream is dead 2/12’ (on the verso) edition 2/12 Price: $85,000 USD Provenance: White Cube, London Private collection, New York Sale: Christie’s London, 29 June 2011, lot 114 Private collection, London (acquired at the above sale) Notes: ‘I remember I was thinking that there were four important things in life: religion, love, art and science. At their best, they’re all just tools to help you find a path through the darkness. None of them really work that well, but they help. Of them all, science seems to be the one right now. Like religion, it provides the glimmer of hope that maybe it will be all right in the end.’ (D. Hirst, quoted in conversation with S. O’Hagan in New Religion Damien Hirst, exh. cat., British Council, London, 2006, p. 5) Born in 1965 in Bristol, Hirst grew up in Leeds and subsequently went to Goldsmith's College in London. Between 1988 and 1990 he curated a series of exhibitions of work by his contemporaries including the highly acclaimed group shows Freeze, Modern Medicine and Gambler. In his own work Hirst has continually challenged the boundaries between art, science, the media and popular culture. A 12-foot tiger shark, a cow and her calf sawn in two, pharmaceutical bottles...
Silver
H 31.4 in W 47.2 in
Damien Hirst Lenticular The Physical Impossibility of Death Limited of 150
By Damien Hirst
Located in Minneapolis, MN
Artist: Damien Hirst Title: The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living Medium: Lenticular 3D Print Size: 31.4" x 47.2" Frame: 32.5" x 48" x 2" Year: 2013 Editi...
Lenticular, Paper
H 35 in W 26.5 in D 2 in
Damien Hirst '“Some Girl” Death - 6' Mixed Media
By Damien Hirst
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: Hirst, Damien Title: “Some Girl” Death - 6 Date: 2010 Medium: Mixed Media Unframed Dimensions: 28.25" x 20.75" Framed Dimensions: 35" x 26.5" ...
Mixed Media
H 47.25 in W 36.62 in
Resolution
By Damien Hirst
Located in Manchester, GB
By Damien Hirst 2024 Laminated Giclée print on aluminium composite panel 120 x 93 cm Edition of 383
Metal
H 39.49 in W 27.49 in
I Love You By Damien Hirst
By Damien Hirst
Located in Dubai, Dubai
I Love You By Damien Hirst Damien Hirst is a British contemporary artist known for his provocative works exploring life, death, and consumerism, often using preserved animals and ...
Screen
H 39.38 in W 39.38 in
H12-5 - 132 Beautiful, Very Undescribable, Almost Universal, Altogether Novel
By Damien Hirst
Located in Bristol, GB
Giclée print on poly-cotton artist canvas mounted on birch plywood stretcher Unique variant from an edition of 473 100 x 100 cm (39.4 x 39.4 in) Signed on the front Mint. Sold in...
Canvas, Plywood, Giclée
Ruby, Richard Bernstein
By Richard Bernstein
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Richard Bernstein (1939-2002) Title: Ruby Year: 1978 Medium: Silkscreen on Vellum paper Edition: 120/200, plus proofs Size: 20 x 30.5 inches Condition: Good Inscription: Sign...
Screen
Warhol, Chanel suite (four artworks), Chanel Ad Campaign (after)
By Andy Warhol
Located in Fairfield, CT
Title: Chanel suite (four artworks) Year: 1997 Medium: Offset lithograph on archival paper mounted on canvas Size: 29 x 22 inches, each Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed in th...
Canvas, Offset
Diamond Ring, Richard Bernstein
By Richard Bernstein
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Richard Bernstein (1939-2002) Title: Diamond Ring Year: 1977 Medium: Silkscreen on Vellum paper Edition: 177/200, plus proofs Size: 20 x 30 inches Condition: Good Inscription...
Screen
Illeana, John Kacere
By John Kacere
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: John Kacere (1930-1999) Title: Illeana II Year: 1991 Edition: A.P.; 100, plus proofs. Medium: Lithograph on wove paper Size: 23.5 x 31.5 inches Inscription: Signed by the art...
Lithograph
Warhol, Chanel (Green/Blue), Chanel Ad Campaign (after)
By Andy Warhol
Located in Fairfield, CT
Title: Chanel Year: 1997 Medium: Offset lithograph on archival paper mounted on canvas Size: 30 x 21 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed in the plate Notes: This special ...
Canvas, Offset
Marilyn Minter, Prism, 2009
By Marilyn Minter
Located in Fairfield, CT
This exquisite chromogenic print by Marilyn Minter (b. 1948), titled Prism, exemplifies the artist’s radical expansion of photo-real imagery into a realm of heightened sensuality, su...
C Print
Once built for curbs and handrails, these boards now hang beside blue-chip works in major museums and collectors’ homes.
Fierceness and fragility coalesce as the British artist revisits a cherished motif — the butterfly.
