Butterfly and paint on canvas

15.2 x 15.2 cm. 6 x 6 in.

Signed and dated on reverse

Provenance：
Other Criteria， London， U.K；
Anon. Sale， Sotheby’s Hong Kong， 23 Jan 2014， Lot 2；
Private Collection， Asia.

Note：
This work has been authenticated by Hirst Authentication Committee， London. It is also accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Science Company.

“You have to find universal triggers. Everyone’s frightened of glass， everyone’s frightened of sharks， every one loves butterflies”.
--Damien Hirst
David Bowie， who passed away last year had an eclectic taste embracing contemporary art， once said “My idea of a contemporary artist is Damien Hirst”. Damien Hirst， as the most successful and controversial artist， has never camouflaged his ambitiousness in the career pursuit. Being an engaging rebellious youth， Hirst has shown his gifted talents by materializing the themes of death， beauty， immortal and order， which triggered the society extensively， into the art pieces. The titles he named the pieces were always in an epigrammatic style reflecting the true meaning behind the pieces. In 1995， Damien Hirst won the Turner Prize with the series of No Sense of Absolute Corruption， since then he was one of the most significant figures among the Young British Artists. At the moment， he was the record holder in different aspects in the art market， including being an European artist with the most expensive single artwork sold and being a living artist with the highest sold amount for one-artist auction.
This season China Guardian offers two pieces of Damien Hirst’s works which are the representation of his different series. Both works are offered by Asian collectors， authenticated by Hirst Authentication Committee and accompanied with the certificate issued by Science Ltd.
Created in 2008， Uplift is one of the pieces in the artist’s Butterflies series which triggers every one most. Leaving blanks in the splash paints in rosey pink and violet， the artist uses rich colours creating a cracked background. Seemingly， the blue butterfly featured at the centre is the most remarkable. The vibrant colours beam through the vein of the butterfly， unveiling the brutal truth that death is certain. Unlike any other artists using printed matters for the collage artworks， Hirst employs real butterflies to complete his pieces， nevertheless he overwhelms the audience. In this series， there is an controversial issue about Hirst adopting some endangered species， yet the present lot is accompanied with a certificate issued by Science Ltd endorsing that it does not feature any butterflies of rare species， which enables the piece to come up onto the market.
Traditionally， butterflies symbolize the concept of resurgence. During the Renaissance period， butterflies， beautiful and scarce， was considered as a rarity in many cultures. To Damien Hirst， butterflies， the embodiment of perfect， convey the sense of resistance power to the certainty of death. Capturing the most beautiful moment， the artist places the butterflies against the colourful canvas， expressing living the life to full as well as uplifting the viewers to reflect the delicacy of life.
All Spun Out， another piece offered this seasons， created in 2005， is from the artist’s Spin series. The circular shapes were once employed in many other pieces as background. In particular， in a collaboration with Jeff Wootton， the artist’s favorite musician， he created 10 pieces of abstract artworks with Spin as the motif for the Album， Eternal. Each work represents the artist’s feeling towards Wootoon’s music， which carries the sense of wildness and sentimental collisions. Apparently， Spin series could be considered as the artist’s most emotional series of works. For the composition the circular lines， resembling the rings on dartboard， are governed by the soft colours while the central part， “the bullseyes” carries a dash of yellow， representing the warmth of the sun. Using rich colours with clear layers， the artist delivers his sentiments widely onto the piece.

Price estimate:
HKD： 450,000 - 550,000
USD： 57,900 - 70,800

Auction Result:
HKD: --