Diamond Skull by Damien Hirst
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Loading ...Compared with the epic works that have made his name - the shark in formaldehyde, the bisected cow - Damien Hirst’s work in progress is a small, delicate object: a life-size human skull. Not just any skull, mind, but one cast in platinum and encased entirely in diamonds - 8,601 in all, totaling 1,106.18 carats. It is the most expensive work of art ever created, costing approx. $20 million.
Hirst said: ‘We have been buying diamonds slowly and have worked out that it will take about eight and half thousand to completely cover the surface of the skull.’
Even the eye sockets and the holes for the nose have been filled with hundreds of jewels. A 52-carat pear-shaped stone is set into the forehead, surrounded by 14 diamonds.
The sculpture, titled “For The Love of God,” will likely sell for as much as $100 million, making it the priciest contemporary artwork ever made. Hirst will find himself on a price level with Pablo Picasso and Gustav Klimt. The White Cube gallery is selling several limited edition silkscreen prints of the work.
Hirst, who financed the piece himself, watched for months as the price of international diamonds rose while the Bond Street gem dealer Bentley & Skinner tried to corner the market for the artist’s benefit. Given the ongoing controversy over blood diamonds from Africa, “For the Love of God” now has the potential to be about death in a more literal way.
Critics may view it with a slant eye, as usual, however, we know the artist doesn’t need to prove his hunger for the extraordinary yet awe-inspiring art.
Damien Hirst´s Diamond Skull - Sold said
am September 19 2007 @ 4:42 pm
[…] Damien Hirst’s diamond skull has reportedly been sold for $100 million! The buyers were an unnamed investment group. […]
sara said
am April 9 2008 @ 11:38 am
i like the diamnd skull
what a said
am May 5 2008 @ 3:30 pm
WASTE OF MONEY
invest it in something more worthwile, you could feed thousands of people for that stupid amount
tons of tubbyness said
am May 20 2008 @ 11:00 pm
i think that would be cool to have a skull plated with diamonds but A has a point. with that many diamonds you could serve a meal to a ton of people. but hey. if i got paid to make expensive works of art… i would
niksan said
am May 28 2008 @ 6:04 am
really cool skull! i just don’t understand where he got the money to make it.
OMIGOSH said
am June 4 2008 @ 2:02 am
I totally agree with ‘what a’! It just isn’t right to spend millions of dollars on one thing, while in africa thousands of children are dying of starvation every day.
He should put his money to good use.
OMIGOSH said
am June 4 2008 @ 2:02 am
I totally agree with ‘what a’! It just isn’t right to spend millions of dollars on one thing, while in africa thousands of children are dying of starvation every day.
He should put his money to good use.
Freedom said
am November 2 2008 @ 12:11 pm
The artwork was a statement it wasn’t meant to be sold at that price of money it just happened to be that way it’s his problem and money, he can do what he wants with it.
neil rowles said
am January 8 2009 @ 8:28 pm
I disagree with anyone that thinks he should use that amount of money to fund children in africa etc etc isnt that what our goverments should be doing?. It also seems Damien Hirst is an extremely talented artist with amazing ambitions in life, so why shouldnt he make money from it if he can? Heres how i see it, if you had all that money, would you donate it or would you use it to become a better artist than you already were? I dont want to come across as selfish but it has to be “Every man for himself” Thats the only way to survive and succeed in a world that we live in today. I congratulate the man on his success.