Damien Hirst — Skulls For Sale

Damien Hirst Skulls Prints For Sale

Market Authority & Performance

Guy Hepner, New York, presents the Skulls series by Damien Hirst, representing one of the most commercially significant and culturally resonant bodies of work in contemporary art. Damien Hirst's market authority remains unparalleled among living British artists. His landmark 2008 single-artist auction at Sotheby's London, "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever," achieved $198 million in total sales—an unprecedented event that bypassed traditional gallery representation and redefined artist-auction relationships.

Within this expanding landscape, Hirst's print editions occupy a strategic position—offering established collector value with verified authentication through Science Ltd and gallery representation through White Cube.

Series Context & Conceptual Framework

The Skulls series emerges directly from Hirst's most ambitious and controversial sculptural achievement: "For the Love of God" (2007), the platinum cast human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds and valued at $100 million upon completion. This singular work crystallized Hirst's decades-long meditation on mortality, luxury, and the commodification of death into an object of unprecedented material extravagance.

The print editions translate this conceptual intensity into accessible formats while preserving the work's philosophical weight. Hirst has stated that the skull represents the most democratic of all symbols—every viewer, regardless of background, understands mortality. Yet by rendering death in precious materials and vibrant colors, he subverts expected solemnity, creating works that oscillate between memento mori and pop celebration.

The "Till Death Do Us Part" editions, initiated in 2012, extend this investigation through systematic color variations. Each chromatic pairing—from dove grey and gunmetal to royal purple and gold—reframes the identical skull image, demonstrating how context and presentation alter emotional reception. The title itself, borrowed from marriage vows, introduces themes of commitment, permanence, and inevitable dissolution that complement the mortality symbolism.

Technical Specifications & Production

The Skulls series encompasses multiple print techniques, each selected to achieve specific visual and material qualities.

Silkscreen Editions (2012)

The "Till Death Do Us Part" silkscreens represent Hirst's most extensive exploration of the skull motif in print. Each work employs multiple color separations to achieve the luminous gradients and precise registration that define the series. The silkscreen medium permits saturated color fields—from the confrontational blue/yellow pairing to the sophisticated dove grey/gunmetal/leaf green combination—while maintaining sharp linear definition in the skull's anatomical details.

Foil Block Editions (2009)

The "Lime Green/Island Copper Skull" demonstrates Hirst's experimentation with metallic substrates. Executed as two-color foil blocks on Arches paper, this edition introduces reflective surfaces that shift with viewing angle and lighting conditions. The copper and green pairing references both patinated bronze sculpture and biological decay, while the premium Arches substrate ensures archival stability.

Diamond Dust Editions (2011)

"For the Love of God (White)" represents the most materially complex work within the series. The silkscreen print incorporates glazes and genuine diamond dust, creating surfaces that literally sparkle—a direct reference to the diamond-encrusted original sculpture. This edition bridges the conceptual gap between accessible print and precious object, embodying Hirst's persistent interest in value construction and material fetishism.

All works are authenticated through Science Ltd, Hirst's studio and administrative organization, ensuring provenance integrity and edition verification.

Notable Works & Market Performance

Till Death Do Us Part (blue/yellow) (2012)

This silkscreen achieved GBP 11,711 at auction in January 2023, establishing contemporary market benchmarks for the series. The blue/yellow pairing represents one of the more visually assertive combinations, with complementary colors creating maximum chromatic tension across the skull form.

For The Love Of God (White) (2011)

The diamond dust edition commands particular collector attention due to its material relationship with the original sculpture. The white palette creates ethereal, almost spectral imagery—the skull appearing as apparition rather than anatomical fact.

Till Death Do Us Part (royal purple/gold) (2012)

The purple and gold combination introduces historical associations with royalty, religious authority, and burial ritual, expanding the work's iconographic resonance beyond pure mortality symbolism.

Hirst's Practice in Context

Damien Hirst emerged as a defining figure of the Young British Artists movement in the late 1980s, building a body of work across painting, sculpture, and printmaking united by a sustained conceptual interest in mortality, science, medicine, and belief systems. His prints and editions extend the visual language developed across his sculptural and painted work — repetition, colour systems, and the tension between clinical precision and organic subject matter — into widely accessible reproducible form.

Hirst's work is held in the permanent collections of major museums worldwide, and his 2008 "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever" single-artist auction at Sotheby's, which bypassed the traditional gallery system entirely, remains one of the most widely discussed events in the recent history of the contemporary art market.