Damien Hirst is one of the best-known British artists of his generation, and one of the most talked about. He is known for sharks in formaldehyde, cabinets of pills, and bright paintings made from dots, spinning paint and butterfly wings. This guide explains his main series, what Damien Hirst prints and posters cost, where you can see his work, and how to tell the different kinds of Damien Hirst art apart when you are thinking of buying.
Who is Damien Hirst?
Damien Hirst was born in Bristol in 1965. He studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths in London from 1986 to 1989. In 1988, while still a student, he curated Freeze, an exhibition held in a warehouse at Surrey Docks in East London. In 1995 he won the Turner Prize at Tate Britain.
Damien Hirst spot paintings and The Currency
Spot paintings are grids of coloured circles painted on a white ground. Hirst has worked on the series for decades, and its most recent chapter is The Currency. In 2021 he launched The Currency, a project of 10,000 hand-painted spot works on handmade paper, made in 2016 and each linked to an NFT. Holders had to choose between keeping the NFT or exchanging it for the physical work, and could not keep both. Of the 10,000, 4,851 holders kept the NFT and 5,149 kept the physical work. From September 2022 the physical works tied to the kept NFTs began to be burned, with Hirst burning 1,000 of his own to begin the process.
If you are looking for a Damien Hirst exhibition poster, the spot motif is the way into his work at the most accessible price. Our three The Currency exhibition posters are £240 each: Poster 1, Poster 2 and Poster 3.
Damien Hirst in a spin: spin paintings
Spin paintings are made by pouring paint onto a surface that is spinning, so that the colour is thrown outward in bursts and rings. No two are the same. If you have searched for "Damien Hirst in a spin" or "Damien Hirst spin paintings", this is the series people mean. For example: Beautiful, How Often The First-Ever Grand, Just Ready-To-Wear, Perfectly Serene
Damien Hirst butterfly works and the Butterfly Heart
Butterflies are one of Hirst's best-known subjects, often arranged in patterns that look like stained glass. Butterflies and hearts come up again and again in his prints. Damien Hirst | Butterfly Heart (Small) is a 2020 charity edition for The Felix Project, and it is £1,500 at Creed Gallery.
Cherry Blossoms, Fruitful and Forever
Hirst's Cherry Blossoms paintings were exhibited at the Fondation Cartier in Paris in 2021. Damien Hirst | Fruitful (Small) and Forever (Small) are close-up details from the series, released in September 2020 as charity prints for Save the Children. We hold both at £1,500 each, and you can see them on our Damien Hirst collection page.
Medicine cabinets and formaldehyde animals
Hirst's cabinets are filled with rows of pills, packaging and surgical tools. His early Pharmacy installation dates from 1992. His preserved animals include The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, a shark, and Mother and Child Divided, a cow and calf cut in half.
Working with a studio
Hirst has long worked with a team of assistants, and his spot and spin paintings are largely made by others working to his instructions. This is a well-documented part of his practice, and it is worth knowing when you look at any Hirst work: the question to ask is how an individual piece was made, who signed it, and what paperwork comes with it.
For the Love of God and the Tate Modern survey
In 2007 Hirst made For the Love of God, a platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds. It was shown at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 2008. In 2008 Sotheby's in London also held Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, an auction of his new work.
From 4th April to 9th September 2012, Tate Modern held what it described as the first substantial survey of his work in the UK, with over seventy works spanning about two decades. It included the shark, the cow and calf, the medicine cabinets, and spot, spin, butterfly and fly paintings.
How much does a Damien Hirst cost?
It depends entirely on what you are buying. At Creed Gallery, our Damien Hirst posters are £240, our editions are £1,500 to £2,000, and our spin work is £4,950. A poster, a print and a painting are very different things, and a unique painting is a different category from any of them. We state which is which on every product page, along with the edition size, signature and documentation.
Where can I see Damien Hirst's work?
Tate holds 59 works by him, and two are on display at Tate Britain as part of its Modern and Contemporary British Art displays. Hirst also opened his own gallery, Newport Street Gallery in London, in 2015. You can see Damien Hirst prints and editions in person at Creed Gallery, 4 Hermitage Parade, Ascot, for visitors from Berkshire, Surrey and London.
Prints, posters and paintings: how to tell them apart
People searching for Damien Hirst art for sale are often looking at very different things. An original painting is a unique work. A print or edition is one of a numbered or published group, sometimes signed, sometimes not. A poster is usually made to accompany an exhibition or project and is not an edition in the same sense. A reproduction is a copy of an existing work. Before you buy any Damien Hirst, check:
- what the work is (painting, print, poster or reproduction) and how it was made;
- whether it is signed, who signed it, and where;
- the edition size and number, if there is one;
- the paperwork and certificate that come with it, and who it was bought from;
- its condition and how it is framed.
Buy Damien Hirst art at Creed Gallery, Ascot
Our team is happy to talk through any piece with you before you decide. Click here to view the whole Damien Hirst collection, or contact the gallery to arrange a visit.
