Mescaline
Mescaline
Signed Print
Damien Hirst
£13,000-£19,000Value Indicator
$27,000-$40,000 Value Indicator
$24,000-$35,000 Value Indicator
¥130,000-¥190,000 Value Indicator
€15,000-€22,000 Value Indicator
$140,000-$200,000 Value Indicator
¥2,450,000-¥3,580,000 Value Indicator
$17,000-$25,000 Value Indicator
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
Medium: Lenticular
Edition size: 100
Year: 2014
Size: H 57cm x W 57cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Location | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2021 | Wright | United States | |||
| May 2021 | Sotheby's Online | United Kingdom | |||
| November 2020 | Tate Ward Auctions | United Kingdom | |||
| April 2016 | Phillips New York | United States |
Meaning & Analysis
Mescaline is a lenticular print from 2014 by Damien Hirst that shows a large grid of colourful spots set against a white backdrop. Unusual within Hirst’s artistic output, this print is created with lenticular technology and thus the spots move from side to side as the viewer moves. Mescaline is based on Hirst’s famous Spots paintings, a series of over 1,400 works on canvas that depict coloured dots in grid-like compositions set against white backdrops.
The Spots paintings are amongst Hirst’s most broadly recognised works. Stretching as far back as 1986, the Spot paintings recur thematically throughout Hirst’s career in a number of mediums and were first displayed at the landmark group show Freeze in London’s Docklands. As with other spot works on paper, Mescaline delivers stark, cynical satire using a visual language that is, on the surface, joyous and carefree. This work also uses movement as a means to communicate its meaning.
Discussing the aesthetic of the Spots paintings, Hirst has proclaimed “I believe all painting and art should be uplifting for the viewer. I love colour. I feel it inside me. It gives me a buzz.” At his best, Hirst packs multiple layers into the seemingly simple and Mescaline is no exception. The print recalls the absurdity of Dada and gently mocks the processes of pointillism.
Damien Hirst, born in Bristol in 1965, is often hailed the enfant terrible of the contemporary art world. His provocative works challenge conventions and his conceptual brilliance spans installations, paintings, and sculptures, often exploring themes of mortality and the human experience. As a leading figure of the Young British Artists (YBA) movement in the late '80s, Hirst's work has dominated the British art scene for decades and has become renowned for being laced with controversy, thus shaping the dialogue of modern art.
