Damien
Hirst

The leading figure of the Young British Artists, Damien Hirst is one of the most famous artists of his generation. Since the late 1980s, his work highlights the deep links between art, science and religion, whose common fund is the human experience and death.

Hirst's exploration of death's various dimensions—whether clinical, symbolic or spiritual—finds its expression in a range of mediums. Whether installations, drawings, sculptures or paintings, Damien Hirst's artworks often display dazzling technical and conceptual mastery, such as The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991)—a shark immersed in formaldehyde—and For the Love of God (2007), a platinum cast of a skull set with 8,601 diamonds. With these iconic and spectacular artworks, the artist deconstructs our contemporary societies' belief and value systems.

The Damien Hirst artworks held in the Pinault Collection were first presented in 2006 at the Where Are We Going? exhibition at Palazzo Grassi. In 2017, the artist created an exhibition at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana whose concept and artworks were exceptional: Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable.