Damien Hirst: Drawings

(Hardback)

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A tiger shark in formaldehyde. A diamond-encrusted skull. Damien Hirst is one of the most important contemporary artists and a legend in the Young British Artist movement of the 1990s. He planned his iconic paintings, sculptures and installations through drawings and sketchbooks, and these can now be seen in a museum exhibition for the first time.

The publication provides an opportunity to glance over the shoulder of a great contemporary artist engrossed in his creative process: since the early 1980s, Damien Hirst has used drawings and sketches to plan his celebrated works. He has also created drawings to accompany his paintings and sculptures, to help visualise their core ideas. Among his designs are a drawing machine and the graphic work of fictitious old masters. In this superbly produced new volume, which retains the character of a sketchbook, a star artist reveals a new aspect to his oeuvre.

Author Bio

Ralph Gleis, for many years director of the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, has been General Director of the Albertina in Vienna since 2025.

Elsy Lahner is a curator for contemporary art at the Albertina in Vienna.