Damien Hirst Cherry Blossoms

“The Cherry Blossoms are about beauty and life and death. They’re extreme–there’s something almost tacky about them. Like Jackson Pollock twisted by love. They’re decorative but taken from nature. They’re about desire and how we process the things around us and what we turn them into, but also about the insane visual transience of beauty–a tree in full crazy blossom against a clear sky.”—Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst devoted two years, in 2018 and 2019, to creating the 107 imposing paintings that comprise the Cherry Blossoms series. In his London studio, he combined thick brushstrokes and elements of gestural painting, referencing Impressionism, Pointillism, and Action Painting.

Published for the exhibition at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris (presented from July 6, 2021 to January 2, 2022), this book brings together all of the Cherry Blossoms through 250 color reproductions and numerous details, 18 foldouts, and contributions from Emanuele Coccia, Philippe Costamagna, Michio Hayashi, and Gilda Williams. An anthology of texts collected by Alberto Manguel offers a literary exploration of the theme of cherries and cherry blossoms. This catalogue raisonné of the series is an ode to painting, an immersion in this extraordinary work.

Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst was born in 1965 in Bristol and grew up in Leeds. In 1984, he moved to London, where he worked in construction before studying for a BA in Fine Arts at Goldsmiths College from 1986 to 1989. In 1988, he conceived and curated a group exhibition of Goldsmiths students, titled Freeze, which marked the beginning of his career through the birth of the Young British Artists movement. Through installation, sculpture, painting, and drawing, he explores the complex relationship between art, life, and death. Internationally renowned, his works have been exhibited in museums and institutions worldwide, notably the Tate Modern in London (2012), as well as the Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana in Venice (2017).