With an estimated net worth of $350 million, he's considered the world's wealthiest artist. He's also a real estate magnate, city planner, publicist and art collector. Now, at age 50, British icon Damien Hirst is opening his own gallery.

Hirst's Newport Street Gallery opens on Thursday (08.10.2015). Between the River Thames and the Vauxhall district, the refurbished industrial site with high ceilings and plain white walls has 900 square meters (9,500 square feet) of exhibition space. Hirst will exhibit works from his personal collection, numbering over 3,000, including pieces by Picasso, Bacon, Warholl and Giacometti.

"I'd have a guilty conscience if the artwork I own was stowed away in boxes where nobody could see them," says Hirst. The exhibition opens with a collection by British abstract painter John Hoyland (1934-2011). During the 1990s, Hoyland had harshy criticized Hirst and his Young British Artists, who had a seismic effect on the scene. Hoyland's works will be on display until April 3, 2016.

"The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" (1991), a preserved shark, is an iconic symbol of the Young British Artists, or 'Britart' - the dominant art movement in 1990s England. Hirst's artwork adorns restaurants and bars, and his statues are scattered across the country.

His trademark works include animals cut in half. Here, a Christie's employee walks between the two halves of Damien Hirst's "Away from the Flock (Divided)." Visitors can enter Hirst's new gallery free of charge. Yet it has been cynically described as an attempt to revive the career of the artist, whose works have sagged in value since the recession of 2008.

This charity sculpture by Hirst is installed in the city of London. The seven metre high bronze piece challenges how perceptions of disability have changed over the years. Hirst staffs multiple studios throughout the UK with as many as 100 studio assistants to help produce his works.

Hirst is probably best known for his solid-state preserved animals - but in the 80s and 90s he also shocked art lovers by displaying rotting cows’ heads. Apart from such antics, Hirst has created an estimated 6,000 paintings and sculptures, plus an additional 2,000 drawings.

“For the Love of God” is another milestone work - a platinum-plated, diamond-encrusted human skull. Initially deemed too costly to show, the sculpture was kept in a secret high-security vault. When it goes on display, armed guards are in attendance 24 hours a day.

“I always feel it’s a great honor to be able to curate things,” Hirst has said. “You play with other people’s works and use them as elements in your own composition.” Here, a Christie's auction house staff member looks over Damien Hirst's "L-Tyrosine -15n."

Two works by artist Damien Hirst: a sculpture, "The Anatomy of an Angel," and in the background "The Rose Window," a collage of butterflies. The vagaries of the volatile art market notwithstanding, Damien Hirst is widely considered to have made art history.