2016
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.
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
Untitled - spot print by Damien Hirst
By Damien Hirst
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Untitled - spot print B By Damien Hirst 2025 Signed, dated and numbered Screenprint on paper 57 x 51 cm Edition of 500
Paper, Screen
Untitled (spin star) By Damien Hirst
By (after) 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
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
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
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
'Minnie' Silkscreen Print with Glitter, Signed Edition 20/150
By Damien Hirst
Located in New York, NY
The ‘Minnie’ is of a matching set with ‘Mickey’ and ‘Minnie’ by Master Contemporary Artist, Damien Hirst. Created in 2016 as part of a limited edition series. Damien Hirst’s ‘Minnie’...
Glitter, Screen
'Mickey' Silkscreen Print with Glitter, 2016, Framed, Edition 30/150
By Damien Hirst
Located in New York, NY
The ‘Mickey’ is of a matching set with ‘Mickey’ and ‘Minnie’ by Master Contemporary Artist, Damien Hirst. Created in 2016 as part of a limited edition series. Damien Hirst’s ‘Mickey’...
Screen
Mickey Screen Print by Damien Hirst, Glitter on Paper, Signed, 2016
By Damien Hirst
Located in New York, NY
"Mickey" is of a matching set with "Mickey" and "Minnie." Set against a vivid blue background and encrusted in glitter, Damien Hirst’s “Mickey” is a playful reimagining of the belo...
Glitter, Screen
Minnie (Pink Glitter)
By Damien Hirst
Located in New York, NY
A very fun and highly collectible screenprint in colors, Minnie (Pink Glitter) was created by Damien Hirst in 2016. Measuring 34 1/2 x 27 1/2 in. (87.5 x ...
Glitter, Screen
Cannizaro H4-4 Damien Hirst Contemporary Art Diasec-mounted Giclée Print Street
By Damien Hirst
Located in Draper, UT
Damien Hirst Cannizaro H4-4 Diasec-mounted Giclée print on aluminium panel 920 x 1260 MM Edition size: 75 + 5 AP signed and numbered from an edition of 75 verso, published by HENI Editions; sheet: 92 x 126cm Damien Hirst first came to public attention in London in 1988 when he conceived and curated "Freeze," an exhibition in a disused warehouse that showed his work and that of his friends and fellow students at Goldsmiths College. In the nearly quarter of a century since that pivotal show (which would come to define the Young British Artists), Hirst has become one of the most influential artists of his generation. His groundbreaking works include The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991), a shark in formaldehyde; Mother and Child Divided (1993) a four-part sculpture of a bisected cow and calf; and For the Love of God (2007), a human skull studded with 8,601 diamonds. In addition to his installations and sculptures, Hirst’s Spot paintings...
Metal
H5-5 Raffles, Contemporary Digital Print, Signed, 90x90 cm
By Damien Hirst
Located in Bristol, GB
Diasec-mounted Giclee print on aluminium panel Edition 71 of 100 90 x 90 cm (35.4 x 35.4 in) Signed and numbered on the back Artwork in excellent condition. Minor imperfections may a...
Digital
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.
