London - A diamond-encrusted skull artwork by British contemporary artist Damien Hirst has been sold for 50 million pounds (100 million dollars) to an investment group, a spokeswoman for the White Cube art gallery in London said Thursday. The platinum skull, cast from an 18th century European man, is coated in 8,601 diamonds, including a large pink diamond in the centre of the forehead, alone worth more than four million pounds.
It was billed as the most expensive work by a living contemporary artist. No further details were revealed about the buyer.
The skull caused a sensation when it first went on display in a show of new works by Hirst in June, and was seen by many critics as a sign of a "celebrity-obsessed culture."
Hirst, a leading representative of the Brit-Art movement who made his name with dotted paintings and installations of diced and pickled animals, is already a multi-millionaire.
The latest sale brings to 174.4 million pounds the value of works sold from the Hirst exhibition, of which the artist receives 70 per cent.
Hirst has rejected suggestions that his works are primarily designed to poke fun at the "art establishment."
