Damien Hirst on his painting for On the Origin of Species

Monday, January 26, 2009 - 10:22 in Paleontology & Archaeology

I was given a paperback copy of On the Origin of Species many years ago by a friend and I loved it, especially the contentious aspects of it. Being brought up a Catholic and questioning the nonsensical creation theory, it was exciting. At the time I was in the habit of visiting the Leeds City Museum, which displayed stuffed animals accompanied by labels explaining their origins. I also used to attend the World Wildlife Fund lectures on a Saturday afternoon. So it was an honour to be asked to create a cover for this 150th anniversary edition of On the Origin of Species. This particular painting is called "Human skull in space" (oil on canvas), and, as in a lot of my work, there's a nod to the scientific. The painting sits firmly in the tradition of "still life" and is made up of objects I've come to imbue...

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