Damien Hirst Oleoylsarcosine For Sale

About this work

Damien Hirst remains one of the most consequential figures in contemporary art, having fundamentally reshaped the relationship between conceptual practice and the commercial art world since his emergence with the Young British Artists in the late 1980s. His spot paintings, initiated in 1986, constitute one of the most recognized bodies of work in recent art history, exploring themes of pharmaceutical culture, systematic order, and the tension between mechanized production and artistic authorship. Oleoylsarcosine, executed in 2008, belongs to Hirst's spot etching series, which translates the visual language of his painted spots into the precise medium of printmaking. The title, drawn from chemical nomenclature—oleoylsarcosine being a surfactant compound used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications—maintains Hirst's ongoing dialogue with the aesthetics of science and medicine. This particular work is distinguished by its production as one hundred unique variants, each presenting a distinct chromatic arrangement while adhering to the grid-based compositional framework that defines the series. The edition structure itself reflects Hirst's interest in seriality and variation, themes central to both Pop Art predecessors and contemporary discourse on originality. Each impression bears the artist's signature on the front and is inscribed with a Damien Hirst archive number on the reverse, ensuring clear provenance documentation. At a generous sheet size of 84.2 by 62 centimeters, the work commands significant visual presence while remaining accessible relative to Hirst's unique paintings, which regularly achieve seven and eight-figure results at auction. For acquisition inquiries regarding this work, please contact Guy Hepner directly.