2023
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.
Untitled (spin star) By Damien Hirst
By Damien Hirst
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Untitled (spin star) By Damien Hirst Damien Hirst is a British contemporary artist known for his provocative and often controversial works that explore themes of life, death, and t...
Paper, Acrylic
I Love You Screen Print by Damien Hirst, Contemporary, Signed, 2015
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
Untitled - skull By Damien Hirst
By Damien Hirst
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Untitled - skull By Damien Hirst Damien Hirst is a British contemporary artist known for his provocative and often controversial works that explore themes of life, death, and the ...
Paper, Felt Pen
Untitled - self portrait smiley face By Damien Hirst
By Damien Hirst
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Untitled (Smiley self portrait) By Damien Hirst Damien Hirst is a British contemporary artist known for his provocative and often controversial works that explore themes of life, ...
Paper, Felt Pen
Minnie Large Screenprint with Glitter, Contemporary, Signed, 1 of 50
By Damien Hirst
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Minnie (Large) By Damien Hirst Damien Hirst is a British contemporary artist known for his provocative and often controversial works that explore themes of life, death, and the nat...
Paper, Screen, Glitter
Untitled - grim reaper By Damien Hirst
By Damien Hirst
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Untitled - grim reaper By Damien Hirst Damien Hirst is a British contemporary artist known for his provocative and often controversial works that explore themes of life, death, and...
Paper, Felt Pen
Beautiful Vitalizing Even-Tempered Vapor Painting (Large)
By Damien Hirst
Located in Calabasas, CA
Artist: Damien Hirst Title: Beautiful Vitalizing Even-Tempered Vapor Painting (H12-1-973) Year: 2023 Medium: Giclee on poly-cotton artist canvas mounted on a birch plywood stretcher ...
Canvas, Giclée
Beautiful, Carefully Acquired, Richly Deserved Vapor Painting
By Damien Hirst
Located in Calabasas, CA
Artist: Damien Hirst Title: Beautiful, Carefully Acquired, Richly Deserved Vapor Painting (H12-2-430) Year: 2023 Medium: Giclee on poly-cotton artist canvas mounted on a birch plywoo...
Canvas, Giclée
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
Untitled Spin Painting By Damien Hirst
By Damien Hirst
Located in New Orleans, LA
Damien Hirst b. 1965 British Untitled, Spin Painting Household gloss on canvas Damien Hirst has stunned art audiences globally since his arrival on the scene in the late 1980s. H...
Canvas, House Paint
#219 Beautiful, Socially Virtuous, Self Assured Star System Painting
By Damien Hirst
Located in New York, NY
'The Beautiful Paintings' series by Damien Hirst explores the intersection of beauty, color, and perception through densely layered compositions of vibrant paint. *#219 Beautiful, So...
Color
Beautiful, Everlasting, Inexhaustibly Interesting, Revelatory Painting Signed
By Damien Hirst
Located in New York, NY
Damien Hirst H12-4: Beautiful, Everlasting, Inexhaustibly Interesting, Self-Revelatory Gyration Painting, 2023 Mixed Media Giclée print on poly-cotton artist canvas mounted on a birc...
Plywood, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Giclée
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.
