Damien Hirst is one of the most important, provocative and commercially successful artists of the YBA (Young British Artists) generation. He has spent his career exploring themes of life, death, beauty, and belief. Known for using unconventional materials such as formaldehyde, diamonds, and butterflies, Hirst forces viewers to confront mortality and the fragility of existence through a seductive aesthetic lens.

Untitled (2001), a large-scale butterfly painting, exemplifies this tension: real butterfly wings embedded in glossy household paint, their iridescent fragility preserved yet immobilized. The composition radiates color and elegance, yet beneath the surface lies the stark finality of life stilled. The butterflies, long a recurring motif in his practice, symbolize transformation, impermanence, and spiritual fragility. The artist once stated “I love butterflies because when they are dead they look alive.” The work transforms the traditional still life into a conceptual meditation on nature, control, and the human desire to arrest time.

Today, his work is held in major museums including the British Museum; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate, the Stedelijk Museum; the Victoria and Albert Museum; and Fondazione Prada among many others.

Provenance
Damien Hirst and Science Ltd., London
Gagosian, (acquired directly from the artist’s studio)
Private Collection, South Korea
Private Collection
K-auction, 20th December 2023, lot 52
Private Collection, Europe