News about Damien Hirst

INTERVIEW BY IAN LADYMAN: One of Fabian Hurzeler's earliest football memories is of watching Manchester United's 1999 Champions League final defeat of Bayern Munich from his bed. He was six years old. 'My father thought I was sleeping, but of course I had a little bit of my eyes open,' recalled the Brighton manager. Hurzeler, now 31, was later to be coached by current United manager Erik ten Hag in Bayern Munich's second team. In August, Hurzeler and Ten Hag stood side by side on the touchline in the Premier League and Brighton won.

He was once the king of controversy in the British art world, but Dame Tracey Emin has declared Damien Hirst a spent force - and believes all male artists suffer a creative decline in their 40s. Hirst, 59, shot to fame in the 90s with controversial works such as Mother and Child, Divided, a formaldehyde sculpture consisting of the severed carcasses of a cow and a calf. Like Emin, 61, who forged her reputation in similarly scandalous fashion with works like My Bed, with its stained sheets and discarded condoms, Hirst was in the vanguard of the Young British Artists movement that spawned in London in the late 1980s. But Emin feels the certitude and power that characterised her YBA contemporary's early work has dissipated, a development that she sees as inevitable among male artists when they reach middle age.

Everything that has ever happened has in some way happened because of the influence of Money. It is no wonder then that David Trigg's new book can so beautifully track its presence in art.

God, the Nineties were fun. It was a decade of possibility. Communism was dead, the Berlin Wall had fallen, the world felt safe for the first time in an age. It was party time. There was no internet - or none to really speak of - and certainly no social media. People had fun, fell in love, fought, fell out in the real world, not via a screen.

Overview

Are Oxford and Cambridge really better than every other British university? How do the likes of Leeds, Manchester and Bristol compare? And what about up-and-coming institutions such as the University of Leicester? Today, we publish The Mail University Guide rankings for 2025 - and there are some big surprises in the results. Our guide is the most comprehensive, broadly based, in-depth analysis of the UK's leading universities you'll find. The Mail ranking is based on recent performance data in areas such as teaching and research, as well as the views of the 346,000 final-year students. Plus, we've crunched the numbers to identify universities where students stand the best chance of getting a high-skilled job when they graduate, the salaries they will earn (useful for paying off that student loan) and whether they feel, 15 months after leaving, that their careers are on track.

I won this print in a competition and it is one of 40. They weren't for sale. It is signed by Damien Hirst and has a letter of provenance. I would love to know the value of this print. It is a limited edition of the beautiful hours spin painting.

Controversial campaigner Camila Batmanghelidjh had so little money when she died that the amounts left to her loved ones will not be fulfilled. The Kids Company founder outlined detailed plans for how her material possessions should be distributed before she died aged 61 on January 2 this year. They included £10,000 to two related people she had 'looked after' and £5,000 each to four others who had supported her mother when she was alive. But the late Camila, who passed away in January 2024 aged 61, left just £21,000 - meaning these bequeathments will not be fulfilled. She named 14 children and young people who she said should be given 'fingerless gloves and a scarf, as well as a £200 voucher so they could buy something they liked'. Camila said her brother Babak could keep her London flat for 'as long as he wants' but once sold he should give an equal amount of profit to her other brother Ardeshire and their children.

TOM UTLEY: Somewhere there exists a snap of me, taken on a school trip to Greece in the late 1960s when I was 15 years old. In the fashion of the time, my hair is almost shoulder-length, and parted in the middle. I'm wearing a pair of duck‑egg blue, flared trousers and a pink, flowery shirt, bought for me in Carnaby Street. If I ever lay my hands on that photograph, which I fear may have found its way into an album belonging to one of my siblings, I shall certainly destroy it. My trouble was I was trying to look cool, so as to fit in with my schoolmates on the trip. I realise now, at this distance of more than half a century, that I succeeded only in looking ridiculous.

Damien Hirst and his fiancée Sophie Cannell were seen enjoying lunch together on Wednesday with their newborn baby. The couple enjoyed an afternoon at their favourite restaurant Scott's in Mayfair where they got to have some quality family time together.  The British artist, 59, and the ballerina, 30, announced the arrival of their first son together last month. 

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS: Not that anyone uses dictionaries these days, but mine defines 'disgruntled' as, 'put into an ill humour, or chagrined'. Artist and former special forces soldier Bran Symondson said, in the art scam documentary The Stormtrooper Scandal, that he knew a couple of people felt 'disgruntled' when their work was traded online for thousands of pounds without their permission. Dictionary definitions must have changed a bit, because one of the artists was talking about tracking down the scammer, 'nailing him to the floor and sawing his legs off'. Another merely wanted to 'pop around and break his legs'. If that's what contemporary artists are like when they're disgruntled, I wouldn't like to meet one when he's properly miffed. Symondson wasn't the target of their wrath. The man accused of perpetrating the scam (though he insisted he was simply the unwitting face, a pawn of online criminals) was dealer and chancer Ben Moore, who achieved mild infamy as 'the Pink Stormtrooper' - attending art events in the spray-painted armour of a Star Wars soldier.

Most new parents have their hands full pushing just one pram. But Damien Hirst has clearly mastered the art of multitasking, pushing one pram for his newborn baby boy and another... for his dog. The 59-year-old artist and his actress fiancee Sophie Cannell, 30, were seen for the first time this week since their baby was born last month. The baby was seen being pushed in a diamond encrusted pram designed by Hirst - known for his pickled shark artwork - and estimated to be worth £50,000. The couple were eating at their favourite restaurant, Scott's in Mayfair. The new mother kept it casual in a baggy grey T-shirt, grey jogging bottoms and trainers as she cradled her son. Meanwhile, Hirst dressed simply in a black T-shirt and jacket as he enjoyed the family outing. The couple were also joined by friends at the restaurant.

The couple were seen for the first time out and about with their newborn baby on Monday.  The couple were joined by friends as they enjoyed an afternoon at their favourite restaurant Scott's in Mayfair.  The British artist, 58, and the ballerina, 30, announced the arrival of their first son together last month. 

The popularity of Britain's coastal communities is now threatening their very survival as an influx of holiday lets on the website Airbnb is driving out young families, forcing schools to close and shops to shut. Our investigation lays bare the scale of the problem, and has identified the 24 seaside communities that are now Britain's Airbnb hotspots - including one village that has just 550 households and a staggering 247 Airbnbs.

There is no such thing as the typical seaside town. Some are millionaires' playgrounds, others centres of simple, olde-worlde charm. Some are loved by surfers, others best enjoyed from a deck chair, and while many are foodies' delights, some traditional towns are all about candy floss and chips. All of the towns and villages below are different. Yet each, in its own way, offers the ultimate coastal living. The Mail talked to property experts across the country who selected their favourite seaside hotspots - taking into account property prices, transport links, schools and amenities.

EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: One of them has amassed a property empire which includes a £39 million John Nash mansion overlooking Regent's Park. The other made do with a modest North London house, which remained uncleaned for decade after decade. But those who assume that shark-pickler Damien Hirst has for years been Britain's most richly remunerated artist - certainly infinitely wealthier than sculptress Phyllida Barlow - may now need to revise that assessment. For I can disclose that Dame Phyllida, who died last year aged 78, bequeathed a fortune of no less than £91.5 million - almost every penny earned in the last 13 years of her life. The details, revealed in probate documents, represent an extraordinary transformation for an artist, who, as one obituary recorded, 'for decades sold nothing' - a fact which suggested that her enthusiasm for creating ramshackle works from a magpie hoard of luridly painted junk was not widely shared.

Taking to Instagram on Wednesday evening Hirst, 58, posted a sweet picture of former ballerina Cannell, 30, resting with their newborn baby and joked: 'Trying not to let the arrival of this beautiful baby boy interfere with the snooker.' The artist, whose net worth was estimated at $384 million (£308 million) in 2020, is said to be all but ready to tie the knot with his partner, who he is reportedly engaged to after first meeting her in 2018. It comes after a varied love life in which he has dated a string of women far younger than him following the breakup of his long-term relationship of 20 years.

Damien Hirst has announced the arrival of a 'beautiful baby boy' with partner Sophie Cannell. The British artist, who shares three sons with his former partner Maia Norman, welcomed his fourth son on Instagram. The 58-year-old shared a picture of himself holding the baby while a snooker match played on a phone beside him, alongside a picture of Cannell, 30, cuddling the baby while they both appeared to sleep. 'Trying not to let the arrival of this beautiful baby boy interfere with the snooker,' Hirst joked.

She joins Manilla-born Pio Abad, Manchester-born Claudette Johnson and Worthing-born Delaine Le Bas, whose artwork targets colonialism in museums, focuses on portraits of black women and men and explores the history of the Roma people. The artists have been nominated in the prize's 40th anniversary event which will return to London 's Tate Britain for the first time in six years.

Having Damien Hirst as her boyfriend seems to be awfully hard work for Sophie Cannell. The former ballerina, 30, has been performing dances around the stripper pole he had installed at his £36 million home in Regent's Park, London, even though she's heavily pregnant. Sophie shared this photograph online of her leaning on the pole in an outfit that displayed her breasts and baby bump. 'Blue for a boy,' she comments, referring to the sex of the child she's expecting. Hirst who is 28 years her senior, is said to be Britain's richest artist, with an estimated fortune of £300 million. The new arrival will have to share his home with their French bulldogs, Pablo, Chapo and Blanco. The artist, known for his shark pickled in a tank, has three adult children with former girlfriend Maia Norman.

The 58-year-old seemed to be getting some fatherly practise in on Friday as he pushed his pet pooch in a pram as he prepares to welcome his fourth child.  The artist was joined by his fiancée Sophie Cannell, 30, who is heavily pregnant with the couple's first child together. Arriving at their favourite restaurant, Scotts in Mayfair, Damien kept it casual in a black zip up hoody and T-shirt. 

Damien Hirst and his pregnant partner Sophie Cannell pushed their pet pooch in a dog buggy as they stepped out on Wednesday ahead of the arrival of their first child. The artist, 58, wore a zip-up black jumper with a blue plaid jacket, grey trousers and trainers, and a white beanie. Former ballerina Sophie, 30, opted for a black hoodie with slim-fit black trousers and a black beanie hat.

For anyone wanting Italian food in London today, there are hundreds of venues to choose from. From what was Little Italy in Clerkenwell to the hub of Italian venues in Soho, the capital is awash with outlets serving pasta, pizza and other dishes. The history of Italian food and culture in the capital stretches back to the 19th century, when immigrant ice cream sellers (bottom right, an ice cream seller in 1877) flogged their wares on poverty-stricken streets. London's oldest delicatessen, Terroni of Clerkenwell (top right), which opened during the reign of Queen Victoria, is still trading today. As is the iconic Soho establishment Bar Italia (left, and inset recently), which was set up in 1949 to serve good coffee and act as a social hub for the capital's Italian community.

Last week, Damien Hirst and his pregnant fiancée Sophie Cannell pushed their pet chihua in a stroller to dinner at their regular hang-out Scott's restaurant. The artist, 58, and the ex-ballerina, 30, who revealed last November that a baby was on the way, appeared to be carefree as they carried out their role as parents by handing their pooch a ride. Sophie screamed at the dog and joking with Damien, who had a slightly shocked expression on his face. Damien was carrying a huge holdall bag as if he was packing for something.