Name: Helter Skelter
Brand: Damien Hirst
Rating: 5 (231 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Damien Hirst’s Helter Skelter, a signed Etching from 2002, is estimated to be worth between £3,200 and £4,800. This work has shown consistent value growth, with an impressive average annual growth rate of 39%. This demonstrates the enduring popularity of the artist and the rarity of this particular piece. Since its first sale on 6th December 2014, this artwork has been sold 3 times at auction. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 68.

Auction Date

Auction House

Location

Hammer Price

Return to Seller

Buyer Paid

July 2023

Leonard Joel, Melbourne

Australia

May 2015

Bonhams New York

United States

December 2014

Ketterer Kunst Hamburg

Germany

Meaning & Analysis

Published as part of Damien Hirst’s second volume of In A Spin, The Action Of The World Upon Things, Helter Skelter is an etching from 2002. The print shows concentric circles in the centre of the composition, rendered in thin, scratchy lines, producing an image that is energetic and dynamic.

The In In A Spin, The Action Of The World Upon Things portfolio is an extension of Hirst’s very well known Spin Paintings. The Spin Paintings were first conceived in 1993 at the event ‘A Fete Worse Than Death,’ alongside Angus Fairhurst. The curator Gregor Muir has recounted: “Using an inverted electric drill and a piece of wood onto which they could fasten sheets of paper, Fairhurst and Hirst set up a spin painting stall – an idea borrowed from a once popular children’s game using painting and an old record player cranked up to 78rpm. A spin painting cost £1 to produce and was signed by both artists on the reverse. In Hirst’s case, the idea proved too useful to be left behind, resulting in his subsequent ‘Spin Paintings’.”

To create the Spin Paintings Hirst attached a large circular canvas to a spin machine in his studio, then throwing paint onto the spinning canvas to create abstract painterly marks. The etchings in this portfolio were produced using a very similar technique, attaching copper plates to the machine, and drawing the spiral lines with needles, screwdrivers, and other sharp tools as they spun.