Damien Hirst platinum skull sells for R718m

A diamond-encrusted skull art work by British contemporary artist Damien Hirst has been sold for £50-million (about R718-million) to an investment group, a spokesperson for the White Cube art gallery in London said on Thursday.

The platinum skull, cast from an 18th-century European man, is coated in 8 601 diamonds, including a large pink diamond in the centre of the forehead, alone worth more than £4-million (R57-million).

It was billed as the most expensive work by a living contemporary artist. No further details were revealed about the buyer.

The skull caused a sensation when it first went on display in a show of new works by Hirst in June, and was seen by many critics as a sign of a “celebrity-obsessed culture”.

Hirst, a leading representative of the Brit-Art movement who made his name with dotted paintings and installations of diced and pickled animals, is already a multimillionaire.

The latest sale brings to £174,4-million (R2,5-billion) the value of works sold from the Hirst exhibition, of which the artist receives 70%.

Hirst has rejected suggestions that his works are primarily designed to poke fun at the “art establishment”.—Sapa-dpa