Damien Hirst

Biography

Damien Steven Hirst (born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom’s richest living artist, with his wealth estimated at around US$384 million in the 2020 Sunday Times Rich List. During the 1990s, his career was closely linked with the collector Charles Saatchi, but increasing frictions between them led to the end of their relationship in 2003. Death is a central theme in Hirst’s works. He became famous for a series of artworks featuring dead animals — including a shark, a sheep, and a cow — preserved in formaldehyde, sometimes dissected. His best-known piece, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, features a 14-foot (4.3 m) tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde within a clear display case.