With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Damien Hirst butterfly artwork fetches £2m at auction

A Damien Hirst artwork created entirely from thousands of butterfly wings has been auctioned in London for £2.2m.

I am Become Death, Shatterer of Worlds - previously owned by the city's Gagosian Gallery - had been expected to fetch between £2.5m and £3.5m.

The title of the work - Hirst's largest using butterfly wings - echoes words scientist J Robert Oppenheimer later said after the first atomic bomb.

Christie's sale of post-war and contemporary art continues on Friday....
Read entire article at BBC