Lot 3694 - A211 Prints & Multiples - Thursday, 28. November 2024, 02.00 PM
DAMIEN HIRST
(Bristol 1965–lives and works in Devon)
Sanctum (Green and Orange). 2010.
Colour photogravure. U.P., Unique Print. Signed in pencil lower right: Damien Hirst. Image 99.8 × 97.8 cm on firm wove paper by Arches 118.5 × 115.6 cm. Published by Paragon Press, London.
Provenance:
- Private collection, Switzerland, acquired in the above gallery in 2012.
With the "Freeze" exhibition at the London Docklands in 1988, the Young British Artists stepped onto the stage of the art market, and prominent amongst them was the organiser of the exhibition, Damien Hirst. They soon developed into a rebellious, loose grouping, who played with the limits of art, of taste and social acceptability, which culminated in the scandal-ridden exhibition "Sensation". Born in Bristol in 1965, Damien Hirst studied at the renowned Goldsmith College in London from 1986 to 1989. After the overwhelming success of "Sensation", he took part in the 1993 Venice Biennale. In 1995, he was awarded the Turner Prize, which is the most important prize for contemporary art. Again and again his art causes a stir – in part because, as hardly any other contemporary artist, he understands and knows how to play the art market, and in part because his main theme – death – is depicted unsparingly and without taboos in his art.
In the "Sanctum" series, from which we have here at auction a one-off print in a unique colour combination, Hirst skilfully employs both the composition, the motif and the title, in order to illustrate his recurring examination of death. A Gothic rose window serves as the underlying compositional framework, and with the luminous colours it is indeed reminiscent of a church window flooded with sunlight. The butterfly itself is an integral component of Christian iconography and stands for the Resurrection. In the end, the title itself, "Sanctum" – holy – steers the viewer towards a possible religious interpretation of the work. Despite the seriousness of the actual theme, Damien Hirst has succeeded in producing an impressive, light and cheerful work of art.
In the "Sanctum" series, from which we have here at auction a one-off print in a unique colour combination, Hirst skilfully employs both the composition, the motif and the title, in order to illustrate his recurring examination of death. A Gothic rose window serves as the underlying compositional framework, and with the luminous colours it is indeed reminiscent of a church window flooded with sunlight. The butterfly itself is an integral component of Christian iconography and stands for the Resurrection. In the end, the title itself, "Sanctum" – holy – steers the viewer towards a possible religious interpretation of the work. Despite the seriousness of the actual theme, Damien Hirst has succeeded in producing an impressive, light and cheerful work of art.
CHF 10 000 / 20 000 | (€ 10 310 / 20 620)