Tulip Varieties

Damien Hirst (1965 - )

Archival inkjet print with screenprinted text and UV varnish

2017

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: Turkey
    City: Ankara
    Place: British Embassy
    In 2017 Gavin Turk chose one of the most iconic symbols of the Netherlands to focus on for an exhibition at the Museum van Loon, following a visit to his friend the artist Philippa van Loon. Originating in central Asia, tulips were admired in Islamic gardens in Persia (Iran), blooming across the ancient Silk Route and in Anatolia. They are viewed as a symbol of exploration, trade and migration. In the 16th century the Netherlands had a great trade history with the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) and it was the Van Loon family who were heavily involved in this trade route. Taking this story as a source of inspiration for his exhibition, Turk chose  24 contemporary artists to contribute to the exhibition — each focusing on depictions of tulips. Nineteen of the artists created prints showing tulips in different iterations, from hyperrealistic portraits to ‘exploded flowers’, from frozen blocks of flowers to tulip emojis.
  • About the artist
    Damien Hirst was born in Bristol in 1965 and grew up in Leeds. He attended Goldsmiths College in London from 1986-1989 and curated a legendary exhibition in a disused warehouse entitled Freeze. The success of the exhibition led the artists involved to become known as YBAs or Young British Artists. Hirst was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1992, and won the award when he was nominated again in 1995. Hirst’s tiger shark immersed in formaldehyde became the iconic work of the 1990s and a symbol of British art worldwide. It was included in the ‘Sensation’ exhibition held at the Royal Academy of Art in 1997, which toured to New York and Berlin. In 2008 he took the unprecedented step of selling all the works from one of his shows at auction.
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    Materials & Techniques
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  • Details
    Artist
    Damien Hirst (1965 - )
    Title
    Tulip Varieties
    Portfolio Title
    Turkish Tulips
    Edition
    7/25
    Date
    2017
    Medium
    Archival inkjet print with screenprinted text and UV varnish
    Dimensions
    height: 42 cm, width: 29.7 cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from The House of Fairy Tales, January 2018
    Inscription
    verso, br: Damien Hirst / 2017 7/25
    Provenance
    The House of Fairy Tales; purchased by the GAC 2018
    GAC number
    18749/12