Name: The Souls II (emerald green, burgundy and blind impression)
Brand: Damien Hirst
Rating: 4.9 (226 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Damien Hirst's The Souls II (emerald green, burgundy and blind impression) (signed) is estimated to be worth between £8,000 and £12,500. This foil block artwork was created in 2010 and has shown consistent value growth since its first sale in September 2015. This is a rare artwork with an auction history of one sale. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 15.

Auction Date

Auction House

Artwork

Hammer Price

Return to Seller

Buyer Paid

September 2015

Christie's London - United Kingdom

The Souls II (emerald green, burgundy and blind impression) - Signed Print

Meaning & Analysis

The Souls II (emerald green, burgundy and blind impression) is a print from Damien Hirst’s extensive series, The Souls, from 2010. The print shows a large butterfly with its wings outspread, set against a white backdrop. Depicted in green and burgundy, the image of the butterfly has been rendered flat and simplified into block colours, obscuring the fine detail of the original image.

Hirst used a metallic foil block printing technique for this series to create a shimmering effect on the butterfly wings that is representative of the way a real butterfly would reflect the light. The motif of the butterfly has been used by the Greeks to depict Psyche, the soul, and in Christian imagery represents resurrection, hence the series title. This series is therefore highly indicative of Hirst’s fascination with the intersection between spirituality, the human psyche, aesthetics and science.

Across the entire of The Souls series there are four species of butterflies depicted in each print, within which are 80 colour variations, each presented as an edition of 15. The abundance of butterflies across the series reflects the various insects found in a meadow, each one unique.