Download the HENI News app

Damien Hirst Leads Bonhams $360,500 'Prints & Multiples' Auction

3 min read  ·  27 Sep 2024

Honesty by Damien Hirst sold for $27,400.
Image courtesy of Bonhams

Honesty by Damien Hirst sold for $27,400. Image courtesy of Bonhams

A work by Damien Hirst was the headline sale at Bonhams 'Prints & Multiples' auction on September 26.

  • The sale totaled $360,500 (GBP269,100), falling short of its pre-sale low estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

  • 149 works sold totaling $360,500.
  • Estimates totaled: $368,200 (low) and $532,700 (high), excluding premiums.
  • The sell-through rate was 69% of the original 215 lots announced.

The star lot was: Damien Hirst, Honesty (2021), which sold for $27,400, 108% above its $13,200 low estimate.

The outperformer sold for 457% above its low estimate. Giovanni Battista Piranesi & Luigi Rossini, Three plates, from Views of Rome / View of the Excavation of Trajan's Forum (1761), sold for $5,144 ($923 low estimate).

Breakdown of results against auction house estimates that are disclosed

Breakdown of results against auction house estimates that are disclosed

  • 60 works, or 40%, sold above their high estimate.
  • 76 works, or 51%, sold within their low and high estimate.
  • 13 works, or 9%, sold below their low estimate.
  • 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

65 works were bought-in, including: Banksy, Grannies (2006), estimated at $13,200 (low) to $19,800 (high).

Withdrawn before the sale

1 work was withdrawn before the sale: Invader, Camo Space Tile (Invader Space Station) (2024) estimated at $791 (low) to $1,055 (high).

Terms and definitions

All results include the fees and premiums added to the price of a work of art when the auctioneer's hammer falls. Estimates, sale prices and totals are converted into US dollars. Sale prices are compared to the auction house’s low estimate, which do not include premiums.

Guarantees: Sometimes an auction house guarantees to pay a seller for a work, regardless of whether the bidding reaches the reserve price, a figure that is typically confidential.

Bought-in: If there are no bids for a work, or if bidding falls short of the reserve price, the lot is unsold or “bought-in”.

Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.

Premiums: Typically a sliding-scale of charges paid in addition to the hammer price by the buyer, plus any other fees.