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Archangels (H15)

'H15 - Archangels' is a set of four framed giclée prints on paper that Damien Hirst released with HENI in April 2024, each in an edition of 100. Every long, 52 x 144 cm image comes from one of four 'Cherry Blossoms' paintings in four panels, named after the archangels Raphael, Uriel, Michael and Gabriel.

All Archangels (H15) Works By Damien Hirst (4)

Significance & Analysis

'Archangels' is the scarce outlier among Hirst's recent numbered releases. After two drops in which demand set the editions at several hundred copies of each print, HENI capped every image here at 100, plus 20 artist's proofs, and allocated them by hand.

Four angels, four panels

The source works are four quadriptychs from the 'Cherry Blossoms', the paintings Hirst made between 2018 and 2020 and showed at the Fondation Cartier in Paris in 2021. Each was named after an archangel. In Jewish and Christian tradition, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are the archangels always named, and Uriel is the one most often added as a fourth. Their names carry their meanings: Michael asks "Who is like God?", Gabriel is God's strength, Raphael means "God has healed" and Uriel "God is my flame".

Hirst has described the blossoms as being "about beauty and life and death", and about "the insane visual transience of beauty". Giving four of them the names of heavenly messengers can be read as a link between that fleeting beauty and the religion and belief that recur across his work.

On paper, behind glass

Each print takes a painting four canvases wide onto a single long sheet. They are giclée prints on archival fine art paper, issued behind Tru Vue Optium acrylic in a walnut frame measuring 60.5 x 152.5 cm. The surface is flat, so the thick, crusted blossom paint is reproduced rather than present. Hirst signed each print by hand on the front, where it is also numbered.

Release and resale

Applications were open for just two days, from 23 to 25 April 2024. HENI then reviewed each one and allocated prints manually to spread the edition widely. On resale, the best result so far is a complete set, all four numbered 44/100, which made £50,800 with fees in Christie's online Contemporary Edition sale in London in March 2026.

Before and after

The series broke with H14 - The Secrets, its January 2024 predecessor of eight garden panels on aluminium sold in editions of several hundred. It went back to the 'Cherry Blossoms' that had supplied H8 - Fruitful And Forever and H9 - The Virtues, now with tight editions, paper and a front signature. In August 2024 H17 - Civilisations kept paper and the signature on the front, but returned to editions set by demand.

Archangels A 2021 Or A 2024 Work?

Both dates describe the same prints. Each of the four is catalogued as 2021, but the release came in April 2024, so auction catalogues usually give 2021 and some dealers give 2024. Either date refers to the one edition of 100 per image, with 20 artist's proofs; there is no earlier printing.

What Is The Edition Size Of H15 - Archangels?

400 numbered prints: Raphael (H15-1), Uriel (H15-2), Michael (H15-3) and Gabriel (H15-4), each in an edition of 100. Each image also has 20 artist's proofs, 80 in all, which HENI did not offer for sale. A complete set can therefore carry matching numbers anywhere from 1 to 100.

Does H15 - Archangels Come With A Certificate Of Authenticity?

No. HENI issued no certificate for this release. The evidence is on the work itself: Hirst's hand signature and the edition number on the front, and a label on the back. The prints were sold already framed in walnut behind Tru Vue Optium acrylic, so the original frame is part of the work as issued.