Designer Dive: Damien Hirst - Infinite Possibilities for the Art Elite
Damien Hirst with his Lalique collaboration - the Eternal series, which plays with some of his iconic recurring motives of preserved animals and symbolisms of mortality but rendered in handmade crystal form.
Damien Hirst is considered amongst the richest living artists in the world together with Jeff Koons, Edward Ruscha and John Currin. This was achieved through his unique take on both the design and commercialisation of art, leading to a faster evolving art landscape in the 21st century. How exactly did he pave his way to become one of the most influential art elites?
Hirst's decorative panels in his Eternal collection showcases his obsession with animal preservation techniques and the macabre. Eternal Beauty and Eternal Hope portrays butterflies and dragonflies whereas Eternal Memento shows a stylized skull. All are available in various crystal colours and finishes and can be displayed using a special frame, or used directly in custom constructions.
Damien Hirst’s influence on the art world is rooted in his role as the primary catalyst for the Young British Artists (YBAs) movement in the late 1980s. While still a student at Goldsmiths (University of London), Hirst curated the 1988 exhibition Freeze, which bypassed the traditional gallery system and introduced a raw, entrepreneurial spirit to the London art scene. This DIY approach not only launched his career but also redefined how emerging artists could gain visibility, essentially shifting the power dynamic from established institutions to the artists themselves and their direct patrons.
Damien Hirst's Lullaby Spring (2002) from his Medicine Cabinets collection is an enormous pill cabinet carefully arranged with 6,136 individually-painted pills. It is considered to be Hirst‘s most expensive work for its value in dollars (USD19.2 million or $28.6 million). (Source: Sotheby's)
His work is most recognizable for its visceral exploration of mortality, science, and religion, often using unconventional and living materials. By preserving animal carcasses in formaldehyde, most famously a tiger shark (The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living), Hirst forced the public to confront the fragility of life through a clinical, almost industrial lens. These Natural History works, alongside his Medicine Cabinets and Spot Paintings created a new visual language that blended minimalist aesthetics with the macabre, sparking global debates about the definition of art and the ethics of using animal specimens.
Beyond his physical creations, Hirst has had a profound impact on the commercialization of art. He famously disrupted the market in 2008 by selling a complete exhibition, Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, directly through Sotheby’s auction house, bypassing his long-time dealers and grossing over £111 million ($223.4 million). This move solidified his reputation as a cultural entrepreneur, proving that an artist could function as a global brand. His success has since paved the way for the mega-artist model, where the artist oversees a factory-like studio production and navigates the high-stakes world of the art world independently.
Hirst also has exclusive limited runs using Lalique's lost wax technique of some of his iconic imagery. Eternal Immaculate (left) tells a story around the fragility, freedom, and transformative power of life. The scissors in Eternal Cross (right) carries symbolism of Christianity, creative craftsmanship, and the visceral. Both are only available in 20 limited units globally for the discerning collector.
Ultimately, Hirst’s legacy is defined by his ability to remain a polarizing figure who bridges the gap between high culture and mass spectacle. Whether he is encrusting a human skull with 8,601 diamonds in For the Love of God or creating thousands of mechanical Spin Paintings, his work consistently challenges viewers to question the relationship between value, belief, and death. Even decades after his debut, his influence persists in the way contemporary art is produced, marketed, and consumed, ensuring his place as one of the most significant and debated figures of the 21st century.
Eternal Sinner reflects the symbolic snake in three continuous display panels in clear crystal.
Learn about other designers:
