Emerge
Emerge
Signed Print
Damien Hirst
£2,550-£3,800
$5,000-$7,500 Value Indicator
$4,600-$7,000 Value Indicator
¥23,000-¥35,000 Value Indicator
€3,100-€4,600 Value Indicator
$25,000-$35,000 Value Indicator
¥500,000-¥750,000 Value Indicator
$3,200-$4,750 Value Indicator
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
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Medium: Etching
Edition size: 45
Year: 2009
Size: H 30cm x W 25cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Location | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2024 | Phillips London | United Kingdom | |||
| July 2015 | Christie's New York | United States |
Meaning & Analysis
This striking etching is by Damien Hirst from 2009 called Emerge. Depicted in luminous colours, the print shows a red and orange butterfly in the centre of the composition against a stark, black backdrop. The butterfly is shown with its wings outspread, as though on display in a natural history insect cabinet.
Many of Hirst’s prints that use the butterfly as its central motif, are reminiscent of his 1991 In and Out of Love (Butterfly Paintings and Ashtrays) installation that fixed the bodies of dead butterflies into monochrome gloss paint, surrounded by overflowing ashtrays. The choice of household gloss was intended to ‘look like an accident of paint with butterflies stuck on it,’ according to the artist. This effect is reflected in Emerge that contrasts the highly realistic image of the butterfly against the solid black backdrop.
Hirst has obsessively depicted the butterfly motif throughout his artistic oeuvre. Each butterfly is born with a unique pattern and mimics the individuality that frames much of human life. The butterfly motif appears both in printed editions as well as in installations where visitors are situated in a room of live butterflies.