Name: Maltohexaose
Brand: Damien Hirst
Rating: 5 (231 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Damien Hirst’s Maltohexaose (signed) is estimated to be worth between £4,250 and £6,500. This woodcut print, created in 2011, has shown consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 11%. This is a rare artwork with an auction history of 5 total sales since its entry to the market in May 2019. The hammer price over the past five years has ranged from £3,461 in March 2021 to £9,914 in April 2022. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 55.

Auction Date

Auction House

Location

Hammer Price

Return to Seller

Buyer Paid

July 2023

SBI Art Auction

Japan

April 2022

Phillips New York

United States

October 2021

Phillips New York

United States

March 2021

Sotheby's New York

United States

May 2019

Clars Auction Gallery

United States

Meaning & Analysis

Maltohexaose is a woodcut print from Damien Hirst’s 2011 40 Woodcut Spots series. The square composition shows four spots that are identical in size and shape, each depicting a unique colour. Across the artist’s vast oeuvre every spot painting represents a unique combination of colours. The 40 Woodcut Spots series is an exploration of colour and form that is distinctly Hirstian.

The 40 Woodcut Spots series is reminiscent of Hirst’s Pharmaceutical paintings that span across his career and is one of his most prolific works. The titles from this series are taken randomly from the chemical company Sigma-Aldrich’s catalogue ‘Biochemicals for Research and Diagnostic Reagents’ that Hirst first encountered in the early 1990s. The grid formula is integral to the endless potential that Hirst’s spot paintings hold and allow for a rational and precise exploration of colour combinations.

Hirst has said of these works, “To create that structure, to do those colours, and do nothing. I suddenly got what I wanted. It was just a way of pinning down the joy of colour.” There are over 1000 spot paintings in existence, dating from 1988 to 2011, and over the last 24 years Hirst has produced an average of 60 spot paintings a year.