Lot 062
Lovely and Kind
Damien HIRST (British, 1965)
2001
Househlod gloss on canvas with butterflies
108.2 x 130.3 cm
Estimate
TWD 12,000,000-22,000,000
HKD 2,941,000-5,392,000
USD 379,100-695,100
CNY 2,649,000-4,857,000
Sold Price
TWD 21,600,000
HKD 5,179,856
USD 665,229
CNY 4,810,690
Signature
+ OVERVIEW
he enrolled at Goldsmiths, University of London, to
pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art and graduated
in 1989. During his time at Goldsmiths, Hirst began
to gain prominence, conceiving and organizing an
exhibition called "Freeze," which he co-exhibited
with fellow students. He then became a key member of the Young British Artists (YBA) movement,
which significantly influenced the development of
contemporary British art in the 1990s. In 1995, Hirst
was awarded the prestigious Turner Prize.
In 1991, Damien Hirst's first solo exhibition, In and
Out of Love, was showcased across two floors of the
Woodstock Street Gallery in London. The exhibition
featured a room filled with chrysalises from which
butterflies emerged, along with an installation titled
Butterfly Paintings and Ashtrays. Thirty years later,
in 2021, the Yale Center for British Art recreated a
smaller-scale version of the original exhibition setting.
The theme of "butterflies" has been a constant
throughout Hirst's artistic career. Utilizing butterflies
as his primary medium, Hirst's five-meter-tall piece
Eternity set a record in 2007 for the highest auction
price of the artist's two-
dimensional works. His art
delves into core themes such
as love and death, beauty and
desire, the contrast between
pain and eternity, symbolism
and reality, and the intersection
of life and art.
In Greek, "Psyche" carries
both meanings of "soul
” and
"butterfly" It symbolizes Man's
spirit; on the other hand, the
term "butterfly
” itself carries
the double significance of "transfromation" and "new
life" symbolizing love in terms of art. To become a
beautiful butterfly, one must undergo a process of
transfromation and only death leads to the beginning
of new life.
The artist, Hirst, used the symbolic meaning of
butterflies as a metaphor for the transience and
impermanence of life and love. Once shot by Cupid's
arrows, they fall into the sweet traps of paint, which
is tantamount to being willing captives for the
attainment of a lasting and meaningful art. In English,
the word "Lovely" means cute and is mostly used in
describing women. "Kind" though normally means
merciful and is mostly used to describe men. Hirst is
once again seen here to be playing a game of words
that is filled with incisive wit.
Modern & Contemporary Art
Ravenel Autumn Auction 2024 Taipei
Sunday, December 1, 2024, 2:00pm