The South Bank Show – Season 31
Episodes
Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson revisits the haunts of his childhood
JG Ballard
Robbie Coltrane
Episode 4
Spamalot
Claire Tomalin on Thomas Hardy
Sue Townsend
Lorenzo Da Ponte
Peter Blake
Nick Park and Aardman Animations
Steve Reich
Grayson Perry
Damien Hirst - Addicted To Art
Damien Hirst
This episode of The South Bank Show provides a unique insight into Damien Hirst not as the enfant terrible of an art world but as an art collector and businessman. Known for creating one of the most famous icons of modern art, a 14ft tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde, which shocked the public, he also produces decorative spot and spin paintings. His prolific output and entrepreneurialism have made him one of the world's most expensive living artists, with an estimated fortune of £100 million. One of Hirst's motivations for his growing art collection is Toddington, a dilapidated Gothic Manor house in Gloucestershire, which he purchased in 2005 for £3 million and will one day house his entire collection. Here, he shows Melvyn Bragg around Toddington, outlining his plans for its future. They discuss his art collection, his artistic heroes and the relationship between money and art.