Front Row - 02/10/2009

Renowned for his pickled animals and paintings created by teams of assistants, Damien Hirst is now turning his back on works which have earned him millions in the sale room and heading in a new direction. John Wilson finds him in paint-spattered clothes, brush in hand, creating oil paintings. In his studio - a garden shed in Devon - Hirst reflects on why he is now painting human skulls and sharks' jaws, and looks back at the 2008 auction when his works raised 111 million pounds. He also visits the Wallace Collection in London, where his paintings will hang in a gallery usually associated with works by the likes of Titian and Rembrandt.