Damien Hirst

José Mugrabi, New York
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is brighter and more vibrant in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There is a tiny loss to the figure's left big toe, and a shot vertical rub mark to the back of the figure's left heel. There is a tiny chip to the lower right corner tip of the base. There are a few tiny isolated media accretions and rub marks in places around the base and a few further media accretions and dust specs within the crevices of the sculpture.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"Hirst's sculpture re-establishes the unity and integrity of the body, through the simplicity of its mechanics and at the same time the complexity of its maintenance and its existential considerations...Hirst subverts the humanism and allegorical anthropomorphism of traditional sculpture, indicating and recalling with surgical precision what occurs continually and without knowing, within our body, exposed and in turn heedless to the ravages of history: cells that multiply and die, blood that flows, glands that secrete, lungs that exhale and inhale air, the liver that filters the spoils of the everyday hunt, white corpuscles that attack infection. All this occurs parallel to, and in the absence of, any respite from what is going on outside us and despite us. But at the same time, in an increasingly accelerated, technological, virtual, robotized world, anatomical exposition re-solidifies reality around the verification of the senses, around error, around the degenerative aspect of the body. And, as in all of Hirst's work, it conveys, mirrors, and excavates life's tortuous journey between fear and desire."
(Mario Codognato in Exhibition Catalogue, Naples, Museo Archelogico Nazionale Napoli, Damien Hirst, 2005, p. 46)