Damien Hirst

Butterfly Spin Painting, 2009 Acrylic on paper painting by Damien Hirst

2009

Damien Hirst (1965) Butterfly Spin Painting (2009) acrylic and metallic paint on paper 21 h × 27 w in (53 × 69 cm) Signed and stamped with Damien Hirst's studio's blindstamp; stamped with the artist's signature and copyright, dated 2009 on the reverse. Executed in 2009, this work was made on the occasion of Damien Hirst's exhibition, Requiem, held at the Pinchuk Art Centre, Kiev in April 2009. 

PROVENANCE:

Private Collection Japan 

Mallet Art Auction, Tokyo, Japan 

Acquired from the above

Executed on the occasion of Hirst’s landmark exhibition Requiem at the Pinchuk Art Centre in Kiev, this Butterfly Spin Painting unites two of the artist’s most iconic motifs: the butterfly and the spin painting.

The butterfly has long been central to Hirst’s practice, symbolizing both beauty and the transience of life. Its delicate form evokes fragility, while its natural brilliance suggests transcendence and the possibility of eternal renewal — themes directly tied to Hirst’s enduring preoccupation with mortality and the spiritual. By rendering the butterfly not with actual wings but through the centrifugal gestures of his spin technique, Hirst transforms the natural emblem into a painterly apparition, blurring the line between organic life and artistic invention.

The spin process, with its connotations of chance, spectacle, and childlike play, contrasts sharply with the butterfly’s traditional associations with fragility and the soul. Yet in their fusion, the work captures Hirst’s fascination with the coexistence of life and death, order and chaos, science and belief. The radiating bands of vivid color suggest vitality and exuberance, while the butterfly’s symmetrical silhouette anchors the image within the artist’s ongoing meditation on the fleeting nature of existence.