Damien Hirst: Skulls

"Death is simply something that inspires me, not something that pulls me down." 

Damien Hirst's fascination with death, natural history and skulls began when he visited the medical school in Leeds where he grew up, and at just 16, he began drawing the corpses there.

In 2007, he made headlines when one of his artworks was reportedly sold for €74 million, around $87 million, making it the most expensive work of art ever sold in an artist's lifetime. The artwork, called For the Love of God, is a platinum skull, a replica of a real human skull, with 8,601 diamonds embedded in it. It cost a third of the advertised selling price to produce. Although the original artwork is no longer on the market, many replicas have been made which were inspired by it. The artist has used the skull motif again in his work, particularly in the pop art style with his Till Death Do Us Part series. The work of the “enfant terrible" of the British art scene has made an incontestable impact on the art world, which he continues to captivate today. Be sure to check out Damien Hirst's Skulls available on Artsper!