A portfolio of 13 etchings. Edition of 30. Each print signed by the artist on the front and numbered on the reverse in Roman numerals. Each set numbered on the colophon page.
In Memento 1, Damien Hirst returns to one of his most iconic motifs: the butterfly, rendered here with jewel-like precision against a stark black background. This rich, velvety composition is at once intimate and monumental, capturing the dual nature of the butterfly as both a symbol of beauty and a memento mori.
Throughout his career, Hirst has used butterflies to explore mortality, transcendence, and the fleeting nature of existence. In Memento 1, this symbolism is distilled into a single, haunting image. The title, taken from the Latin memento mori (“remember you must die”), reminds us that beauty is brief, and that life, however dazzling, is finite.
Elegant and visceral, Memento 1 is more than a study in natural perfection; it is a meditation on impermanence. It invites quiet reflection, even reverence, and offers viewers a moment of stillness in which to contemplate the delicate balance between life and loss.