For the Love of God  

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For the Love of God [1] is a sculpture by artist Damien Hirst produced in 2007. It consists of a platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, including a pear-shaped pink diamond located in the forehead of the skull. Costing $28 million to produce, the work went on display at the White Cube gallery in London at an asking price of $100 million. It was sold on August 30, 2007 for its asking price, making it the most expensive single work by a living artist. Sold to an unnamed investment group, Hirst has kept a share in the work.

Production

Hirst supposedly gained his inspiration for the piece at the British Museum, viewing a turquoise skull of Aztec origin.

The human skull used as the base for the work, bought in a shop in Islington, is thought to be that of a European living between 1720 and 1810. The work is supposedly named after his mother's first words when she heard of the idea.

8,601 diamonds, over a platinum cast, cover the entirety of the skull, with the exception of the original teeth of the skull. At the centre of the forehead lies a pear-shaped pink diamond, the centrepiece of the work. All diamonds used for the work were ethically sourced.

Sale

On June 1 2007, the work went on display at the White Cube gallery in London. "Hirst unveils £50m diamond skull"



Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "For the Love of God" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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