Owning an original Hirst, which sells for multimillions, is out of the question not just for you, but for the everyday wealthy. It takes a serious net worth, like Jay-Z’s, to purchase. Fresh off his $150 million Live Nation deal, the rapper turned tycoon made the plunge, copping Hirst’s Beat Life and Cheat Death. The painting was reportedly inspired by Jay’s American Gangster album.
Like Mr. Carter, Hirst wasn’t always so flush. His blue-collar roots go back to Leeds, in the U.K., where he grew up in the punk-fueled 1970s. The artistic bad boy had scrapes with the law but found major success in the 1990s. His early art was dominated by a theme of death; the morbid theme runs through Levi’s x Damien Hirst in the form of skulls, as well as his other major themes of spots and spin art.