All Artworks
Contemporary/YBA
The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living
Damien Hirst
1991
A tiger shark suspended in a vitrine of formaldehyde, confronting viewers with the reality of death preserved in clinical display.
Significance
The defining work of the Young British Artists movement, sold for $8 million in 2004. When the original shark decayed, Hirst replaced it, raising questions about authenticity.
Medium
Tiger shark, glass, steel, formaldehyde
Dimensions
213 cm × 518 cm × 213 cm
Location
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (second version), Bentonville, USA