Diamonds Are a Skull's Best Friend

Platinum cast + 8,601 jewels = $100M price tag
By Marie Morris,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 2, 2007 3:10 PM CDT
Diamonds Are a Skull's Best Friend
A member of staff holds up an exhibition catalogue showing a picture of a work 'For the Love of God', a platinum skull covered with 8,601 diamonds, by British artist Damien Hirst during the launch of Hirst major solo exhibition 'Beyond Belief' at the White Cube gallery in London, Friday, June 1, 2007....   (Associated Press)

The priciest work of modern art ever created is on view at a London gallery, priced at just $100 million. Death-obsessed artist Damien Hirst cast a human skull in platinum and encrusted it with diamonds, creating a piece he calls "For the Love of God." He kept the original teeth, he tells Bloomberg, as "a reminder that it's real."

The piece is on display in a darkened room at the White Cube Gallery where a spotlight plays over it, creating an impression not unlike that of a disco ball. The skull, which cost $20 million to create, has already attracted interest from two or three collectors, says the gallery's exhibitions director. Hirst's latest show opens to the public tomorrow. (More Damien Hirst stories.)

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