Art Metropole

#04622

For the Love of God: The Making of the Diamond Skull

Artist

Damien Hirst

Date

2007

Publisher

Other Criteria

Format

Artists' Books

Details

Hardcover

ISBN

978-1904212201

Size

16.6 × 24.6 cm

Length

78 

This book is a creative guide to the making of arguably the most extraordinary art object to be made in the 21st century. Published to accompany the 2007 exhibition “Damien Hirst: Beyond Belief” at White Cube, it gives a fascinating pictorial insight into how Hirst’s diamond skull piece “For the Love of God” was conceived and produced.

Illustrated with candid behind-the-scenes photographs by Johnnie Shand Kydd, the book includes a number of preparatory drawings by Damien Hirst and a fold-out image of the diamond skull.

Accompanying this is an essay by the art historian Rudi Fuchs, who writes, “The skull is out of this world, celestial almost. I tend to see it as a glorious intense victory over death.” A number of leading experts in the fields of archeology and dentistry have also contributed detailed studies on the diamond skull, including analysis of its age and ancestry.