The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living is an artwork by Damien Hirst (born June 7, 1965), an English artist and the leading artist of the "Young British Artists" (or YBA). It consists of a shark preserved in formaldehyde in a vitrine. It was originally commissioned in 1991 by Charles Saatchi, who sold it in 2004, making Hirst the second most expensive living artist after Jasper Johns (he surpassed Johns in 2007). Due to...
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The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living is an artwork by Damien Hirst (born June 7, 1965), an English artist and the leading artist of the "Young British Artists" (or YBA). It consists of a shark preserved in formaldehyde in a vitrine. It was originally commissioned in 1991 by Charles Saatchi, who sold it in 2004, making Hirst the second most expensive living artist after Jasper Johns (he surpassed Johns in 2007). Due to deterioration of the original 14-foot (4.3 m) tiger shark, it was replaced with a new specimen in 2006. It is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City until 2010.
It is the iconic work of British art in the 1990s, and the symbol of Britart worldwide.
The work was funded by Charles Saatchi, who in 1991 had offered to pay for whatever artwork Hirst wanted to create. The shark itself cost Hirst £6,000 and the total cost of the work was £50,000. The shark was caught by a fisherman commissioned to do so, in Australia. Hirst...
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