Damien Hirst

Togo Fine Arts, Tokyo
Acquired by the present owner from the above

This work is in very good condition overall. There is an area of surface irregularity around one of the butterflies along the bottom left edge, which appears inherent to the artist's working method. There is a slight undulation to the canvas along the top edge, where the two crescents of the heart meet in the middle. There is evidence of overall wear to the sides and edges of the canvas which has resulted in light surface soiling. The largest blue butterfly in the center of the composition has a slightly torn wing, which also appears inherent to the artist's working method. Under ultraviolet light inspection there is no evidence of restoration. Unframed.
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.
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“It’s about love and realism, dreams, ideals, symbols, life and death. I worked out many possible trajectories for these things, like the way the real butterfly can destroy the ideal (birthday card) kind of love; the symbol exists apart from the real thing. Or the butterflies still being beautiful even when dead. All these things are completely thrown off balance by a comparison I tried to make between art and life, in the upstairs and downstairs installations, a crazy thing to do when in the end it’s all art.” Damien Hirst

The inspired application of exotic butterflies to the painted surface is one of Damien Hirst’s earliest and most defining artistic innovations, initiated shortly after he graduated from Goldsmiths in 1989. Executed in 2002, Untitled (Butterfly Heart) comprises a magnificent and stunning sublimation of Hirst’s butterfly painting corpus, as well as his tendency to experiment with non-traditionally shaped canvases. Across the absorptive surface of the present work, a mesmerizing dissemination of gem-like butterflies against a big pink heart confers the idea of a perfect, fairy-tale romance that belies the gruesome nature of the works’ construction–innumerable dead insects whose wings have been plucked and dismembered from their bodies and trapped with sticky gloss paint. For Hirst and his morbid fascination with death and decay, these delicate and effervescent insects bestow an unrivaled expression of the beauty and fragility of life. Representing a resplendent and iconic exemplification of Hirst’s most career-defining concerns, this butterfly heart, though ostensibly morbid, nonetheless broadcasts a suspended animation of beauty, love, and a celebration of life.