For the Love of God is a sculpture by British artist extraordinaire Damien Hirst, 42. It consists of a platinum cast of a human memento mori skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, including a pear-shaped pink diamond located in the forehead of the skull. Costing £14 million to produce, the work went on display at the White Cube gallery (owned by Jay Jopling) in the East End of London at an asking price of £50 million, which at the time, if sold, would be the highest price ever for a single work by a living artist.
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's title was supposedly inspired by his mother, who once asked, “For the love of God, what are you going to do next ?”...
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.
On June 1st 2007, the work went on display at the White Cube gallery. It was then reported on June 11th that the singer George Michael and his partner Kenny Goss were interested in purchasing the piece for around £50 million (id est $100m).
Hirst stated the idea for the work came from a turquoise skull of Aztec origin at the British Museum. Artist John LeKay, a friend of Hirst's in the early 90s, claims the work is based on a skull covered with crystals, which LeKay had made in 1993.
Hirst claims that the piece was sold on August 30th, for £50 million ($100m), to an anonymous consortium. Christina Ruiz, editor of The Art Newspaper, claims that Hirst had failed to find a buyer and had been trying to offload the skull for £38 million. Immediately after these allegations were made, Hirst claimed he had sold it for the full asking price, in cash, leaving no paper trail.
Harry Levy, vice chairman of the London Diamond Bourse & Club, said "I would estimate the true worth of the skull as somewhere between £7 million and £10 million". Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs would expect £8.5 million in VAT payments, if Hirst really did receive £50 million. David Lee, editor of The Jackdaw, commented "Everyone in the art world knows Hirst hasn't sold the skull. It's clearly just an elaborate ruse to drum up publicity and rewrite the book value of all his other work".
