Damien Hirst Sells Limited-Edition Prints to Support Italian Children Affected by Pandemic

Damien Hirst Sells Limited-Edition Prints to Support Italian Children Affected by Pandemic

Together with the Fondazione Prada in Milan, British artist Damien Hirst has launched a new charity campaign to aid Italian children whose education has been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Hirst created four new limited-edition prints that were made available online today, with all profits from the sales donated to Save the Children, an international nonprofit dedicated to providing free access to educational, economic, and healthcare opportunities to children. In June, Save the Children launched the program “Riscriviamo il futuro” (Rewrite the Future), which today has established 90 educational spaces across Italy, in addition to providing financial support to vulnerable families.

“COVID-19 has been devastating for many people and families all over the world and lockdown has been really difficult, but especially difficult for children who haven’t been able to go to school,” Hirst said in a statement. “I wanted to find a way to raise money to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds who have been most affected by school closures and the support they provide.”

The limited-edition prints, titled Fruitful and Forever and priced at €400–€1,200 ($475–$1,420), feature close-up details from Hirst’s new series of abstract large-scale paintings “Cherry Blossoms.” Created over two years in his London studio, the series depicts cherry blossom trees in bloom in the style of colorful works by Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Georges Seurat. The prints will be available for purchase until midnight on September 27.

Daniela Fatarella, CEO of Save the Children Italy, said in a statement,”Thanks to these unique works by Damien Hirst, art, which in our projects is often one of the key levers for the harmonic growth of children, will also be an important tool that will enable to continue to support thousands of children and adolescents who have been hard hit by the Coronavirus emergency and the resulting socio-economic crisis.”

Published at Tue, 15 Sep 2020 16:15:19 +0000