The available evidence does not support a verified ranking of Damien Hirst’s 10 most expensive works ever sold. Two leading reported results are The Golden Calf, at £10,345,250 in 2008, and Lullaby Spring, at £9.6 million in 2007. Those figures come from a secondary auction-market roundup; Sotheby’s records confirm the works appeared in its sales, but the consulted Sotheby’s page shows estimates rather than final prices. Treat these as reported high-priced sales, not a definitive top-ten list.
What is Damien Hirst’s most expensive artwork?
The Golden Calf is the highest-priced work among the examples substantiated here: MyArtBroker reports that it sold for £10,345,250 at Sotheby’s in 2008. Sotheby’s lists the work among the lots in its Beautiful Inside My Head Forever evening sale, but the artist-page entry consulted gives an estimate, not the final result. The reported price should therefore not be mistaken for a figure independently confirmed by the surfaced Sotheby’s record. MyArtBroker’s roundup and Sotheby’s Hirst past-lot page provide the relevant context.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Damien Hirst: The Civilisation Paintings | $18.26 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Damien Hirst: Reverence, Revelation, Devotion | $75.81 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Damien Hirst: ABC Book | $22.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Damien Hirst: Colouring Book | $7.49 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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Damien Hirst: The Currency | $70.78 | Buy on Amazon |
Two other reported high-priced sales
Lullaby Spring
MyArtBroker reports that Lullaby Spring sold for £9.6 million at Sotheby’s in June 2007. It describes the work as a cabinet containing 6,136 individually painted pills. Sotheby’s past-lot page confirms a 21 June 2007 sale listing, but its surfaced information provides an estimate rather than the final result. The £9.6 million figure is thus a reported price, not a final amount verified in the consulted Sotheby’s entry. Sotheby’s artist page
The Kingdom
MyArtBroker says The Kingdom, a shark in a vitrine, achieved nearly £9.6 million in Sotheby’s September 2008 sale. The roundup does not establish a precise amount or price convention in the evidence available here, so “nearly £9.6 million” is the appropriate level of precision—not an exact ranking figure. MyArtBroker’s roundup
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Why a definitive top-ten list would be misleading
A reliable ranking needs comparable, lot-level results. For every entry, a reader should be able to distinguish the auction date and venue, original currency, reported result, and whether that result includes the buyer’s premium. The evidence here does not establish those details consistently for ten works, and currencies cannot be compared fairly without a stated conversion basis and date.
- Estimates are not sale prices. Sotheby’s artist-page entries identify lots and show estimates, but those estimates do not establish what buyers ultimately paid.
- A reported result is not necessarily a completed transaction. MyArtBroker reports that the buyer of Lullaby Winter failed to pay after its 2007 Christie’s sale, and that Christie’s sold the work again in 2015. A reported auction result should not be presented as proof of payment without that distinction.
- Public auctions and private transactions are different. Keep private-sale claims, asking prices, guarantees, estimates and public-auction results separate rather than treating them as one ranking.
- Price conventions matter. Hammer price and a result including buyer’s premium are not interchangeable. The consulted evidence does not consistently establish which convention applies to the reported figures above.
These limits mean the title’s promised count of ten cannot be responsibly supplied from the verified material. The examples above are useful indicators of reported major results, not proof that they occupy a particular order among every Hirst sale.
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Did For the Love of God sell at auction?
Christie’s describes For the Love of God as a platinum-cast human skull set with 8,601 diamonds. The Christie’s material consulted for this article does not verify a public auction price for it. Accordingly, widely repeated asking-price or private-sale claims should not be presented as a confirmed auction result. Christie’s feature on the work
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Hirst’s auction market includes more than headline sculptures
Hirst is known for works involving animals in formaldehyde, medicine and pill cabinets, spot and spin paintings, butterfly imagery, and diamond-encrusted works. He came to prominence in London in the late 1980s, studied at Goldsmiths under Michael Craig-Martin, and organised the 1988 Freeze exhibition. Christie’s says he won the Turner Prize in 1995 for a body of work that included Mother and Child (Divided); his recurring subjects include life, death, art, science and consumerism. Christie’s artist page
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Editioned prints and works on paper occupy a different price tier from the best-known unique works. Phillips reported that its dedicated June 2025 Damien Hirst live sale totalled £487,553 and sold 31 of 36 lots. The sale included The Virtues (H9) (2021), reported at £82,550, and Rejoicing Blossom, at £50,800; the auction house identified Cherry Blossom, Spot, Spin and butterfly motifs among the works. Phillips also reported £2.9 million across its wider Evening & Day Editions sales. These figures describe that particular sale and broader editions sessions, not the market-wide value of Hirst’s unique major works. Phillips’ June 2025 sale release
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