Name: Nopaline
Brand: Damien Hirst
Rating: 5 (231 reviews)

Track auction value trend

Damien Hirst's Nopaline, a signed woodcut from 2011, is estimated to be worth between £7,500 and £11,500. This artwork has shown consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 11%. This piece has a strong auction history, having been sold 3 times since its initial sale on 8th June 2016. In the past 12 months, the hammer price has ranged from £4,512 in August 2020 to £8,928 in May 2023. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 55.

Auction Date

Auction House

Location

Hammer Price

Return to Seller

Buyer Paid

May 2023

SBI Art Auction

Japan

August 2020

Christie's New York

United States

June 2016

Phillips London

United Kingdom

Meaning & Analysis

Nopaline is a woodcut print from Damien Hirst’s 40 Woodcut Spots series from 2011. The print shows four rows of spots that are identical in size and shape, each depicting a unique colour. Across the artist’s career every spot painting represents a unique combination of colours. The 40 Woodcut Spots series is an exploration of colour and form that is distinctly Hirstian.

Hirst has said of these works, “To create that structure, to do those colours, and do nothing. I suddenly got what I wanted. It was just a way of pinning down the joy of colour.” This series is representative of the spot paintings that constitute some of Hirst’s most recognisable works. There are over 1000 spot paintings in existence, dating from 1988 to 2011.

The origins of the famous spot paintings are from 1988, when Hirst in the final stages of the Freeze exhibition painted two arrangements of coloured spots onto the wall of the warehouse, titling them Edge and Row respectively. The Freeze exhibition marked a turning point in Hirst’s career where he began to employ assistants to create the spot paintings. This was part of the artist’s aims towards creating works that appeared to have been produced mechanically and without human intervention.