2008
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Hirst Marshall Ghenie Claude Lalanne Sport Basketball Kobe Bryant Sport cards Modern sport cards Michael Jordan
See also : Hirst Marshall Ghenie Claude Lalanne Sport Basketball Kobe Bryant Sport cards Modern sport cards Michael Jordan
2008 Beautiful Inside my Head Forever by HIRST
Intro
Damien Hirst managed with Sotheby's a two day solo sale of his most recent art, by-passing the galleries. This event titled Beautiful Inside my Head Forever happened on September 15 and 16, 2008, and fetched £ 111M overall.
This successful auction happened just in time, while the financial market was crashing with the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
This successful auction happened just in time, while the financial market was crashing with the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
1
The Golden Calf
2008 SOLD for £ 10.3M by Sotheby's
The Golden Calf is a bull crowned by a golden disk featured in a glass aquarium of formaldehyde 320 x 137 cm above a high marble plinth. The horns and hooves are also in gold. Hirst associates religion and death in the title and subject. It was sold for £ 10.3M, lot 13.
The Black Sheep with the Golden Horn, displayed in a tank 110 x 162 x 64 cm without plinth, was sold for £ 2.6M, lot 9.
The Black Sheep with the Golden Horn, displayed in a tank 110 x 162 x 64 cm without plinth, was sold for £ 2.6M, lot 9.
2
The Kingdom
2008 SOLD for £ 9.6M by Sotheby's
The Kingdom features a tiger shark with a wide opened mouth, in a glass aquarium of formaldehyde 130 x 380 cm above a high steel plinth. It was sold for £ 9.6M from a lower estimate of £ 4M, lot 5.
3
Fragments of Paradise
2008 SOLD for £ 5.2M by Sotheby's
Hirst prepared in 2008 another replica of his 2002 Lullaby cabinets, in the same size 183 x 274 x 10 cm. Titled Fragments of Paradise, it was sold for £ 5.2M from a lower estimate of £ 1M, lot 51.
Memories of / Moments with you is an installation of two pill cabinets 91 x 137 x 10 cm each for an overall length of 315 cm. It was sold for £ 2.6M, lot 11 in the same sale.
Memories of / Moments with you is an installation of two pill cabinets 91 x 137 x 10 cm each for an overall length of 315 cm. It was sold for £ 2.6M, lot 11 in the same sale.
2008 Felled Trees by Hockney
2023 SOLD for $ 10.8M by Christie's
Moving permanently to Yorkshire in the early 2000s, David Hockney revisits his native county with a Fauviste eye. He took an increased interest to large size views of the countryside in 2006 when visiting the exhibition at Tate Britain where all the six-footers by Constable were exhibited together for the first time ever.
He looks at the geometric contrast between the leafless trees that are surviving winter and the trunks stacked on the ground for the timber industry.
Felled Trees, oil on canvas 122 x 152 cm painted in 2008, was sold for $ 10.8M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Christie's on May 11, 2023, lot 35A. The picture is focused on the foreground of bright stylized logs lying on a deep purple soil.
This painting in a single panel looks like a preparation to Winter timber, 274 x 610 cm in 15 parts painted in 2009 in a totally different angle of view but similar shapes and colors, sold for $ 23.3M by Christie's in 2022. Both were sold from the 'Visionary' Paul G. Allen collection. Allen had acquired both to the same gallery in 2009.
He looks at the geometric contrast between the leafless trees that are surviving winter and the trunks stacked on the ground for the timber industry.
Felled Trees, oil on canvas 122 x 152 cm painted in 2008, was sold for $ 10.8M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Christie's on May 11, 2023, lot 35A. The picture is focused on the foreground of bright stylized logs lying on a deep purple soil.
This painting in a single panel looks like a preparation to Winter timber, 274 x 610 cm in 15 parts painted in 2009 in a totally different angle of view but similar shapes and colors, sold for $ 23.3M by Christie's in 2022. Both were sold from the 'Visionary' Paul G. Allen collection. Allen had acquired both to the same gallery in 2009.
2008 Upper Deck Jordan-Bryant Dual Logoman
2025 SOLD for $ 13M by Heritage
Established in 1988, Upper Deck modernized the sport cards. In 1990, the player's autograph signature is added to some prestige UD series, in necessarily limited quantities. The first trading card autographed by Michael Jordan is a 1996 Upper Deck in the SPx series.
In 1997 the new impulse for special effects appeals their competitors including Fleer and the ephemeral Metal Universe. Upper Deck creates another goodies : the jersey fragment inlaid on the card.
The first series that displays pieces from a Jordan jersey in the Game Jersey edition of Upper Deck for the 1997-98 season, with a 1998 double copyright to the publisher and to the NBA.
This card is serialized out of a high figure of 23 which corresponds to the player's number but does not mean that this quantity has been entirely produced. Jersey and photos relate to a prestigious event, the 1992 NBA All-Star Game in which Jordan scored 18 points in 31 minutes of play.
The card 21/23, certified by PSA, was sold for $ 2.1M by Goldin on May 22, 2021, lot 3. It is graded 9 for the autograph and NM-MT 8 for the condition. Its game-worn patch relic is a tri-color piece.
In the 2002-2003 season, Upper Deck began to incorporate a guaranteed game worn NBA Logoman patch or a piece of jersey. They were made of a large jersey patch over a small photo of the player.
One of one serialized cards of the Ultimate Collection have in dedicated places the Logoman patch, the signature of the player and a photo of the player in action.
A 2003-2004 1 of 1 Ultimate referred as MJ-L of Michael Jordan in his former Chicago Bulls period was sold for $ 2.9M by Goldin on June 1, 2024, lot 2. The 1/1 serial number is manuscript. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
PSA has guaranteed its authenticity without grading it, which means that it has a major flaw. This case has become frequent due to the increased complexity of the make. The signature in blue ink is graded a perfect GEM MT 10 by PSA/DNA.
The 2009-10 National Treasures Steph Curry Logoman Autograph card is reputed to have been sold in 2021 for $ 5.9M in a private sale.
Upper Deck edited from 2004 in their Exquisite collection a Dual Logoman format with the NBA Logoman patch of two players and their autograph.
Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are featured together in a unique example. It was issued for the season 2007-2008 and is copyrighted 2008. Jordan's patch is from the 1996-97 season. Both players appear in other pairings.
This 1/1 has been graded EX/MT 6 by PSA. It was sold for $ 13M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Heritage on August 23, 2025, lot 80063.
Response by Grok :
Quote Heritage Auctions @HeritageAuction Aug 24
New record The only copy that will ever exist of an extraordinary card featuring images, NBA uniform logos, and signatures from two of the greatest players of all time broke the records for the highest price ever paid for a card Saturday in @Heritage_Sport Summer Platinum
In 1997 the new impulse for special effects appeals their competitors including Fleer and the ephemeral Metal Universe. Upper Deck creates another goodies : the jersey fragment inlaid on the card.
The first series that displays pieces from a Jordan jersey in the Game Jersey edition of Upper Deck for the 1997-98 season, with a 1998 double copyright to the publisher and to the NBA.
This card is serialized out of a high figure of 23 which corresponds to the player's number but does not mean that this quantity has been entirely produced. Jersey and photos relate to a prestigious event, the 1992 NBA All-Star Game in which Jordan scored 18 points in 31 minutes of play.
The card 21/23, certified by PSA, was sold for $ 2.1M by Goldin on May 22, 2021, lot 3. It is graded 9 for the autograph and NM-MT 8 for the condition. Its game-worn patch relic is a tri-color piece.
In the 2002-2003 season, Upper Deck began to incorporate a guaranteed game worn NBA Logoman patch or a piece of jersey. They were made of a large jersey patch over a small photo of the player.
One of one serialized cards of the Ultimate Collection have in dedicated places the Logoman patch, the signature of the player and a photo of the player in action.
A 2003-2004 1 of 1 Ultimate referred as MJ-L of Michael Jordan in his former Chicago Bulls period was sold for $ 2.9M by Goldin on June 1, 2024, lot 2. The 1/1 serial number is manuscript. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
PSA has guaranteed its authenticity without grading it, which means that it has a major flaw. This case has become frequent due to the increased complexity of the make. The signature in blue ink is graded a perfect GEM MT 10 by PSA/DNA.
The 2009-10 National Treasures Steph Curry Logoman Autograph card is reputed to have been sold in 2021 for $ 5.9M in a private sale.
Upper Deck edited from 2004 in their Exquisite collection a Dual Logoman format with the NBA Logoman patch of two players and their autograph.
Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are featured together in a unique example. It was issued for the season 2007-2008 and is copyrighted 2008. Jordan's patch is from the 1996-97 season. Both players appear in other pairings.
This 1/1 has been graded EX/MT 6 by PSA. It was sold for $ 13M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Heritage on August 23, 2025, lot 80063.
Response by Grok :
Quote Heritage Auctions @HeritageAuction Aug 24
New record The only copy that will ever exist of an extraordinary card featuring images, NBA uniform logos, and signatures from two of the greatest players of all time broke the records for the highest price ever paid for a card Saturday in @Heritage_Sport Summer Platinum
- The 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman card, featuring Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant's signatures and game-worn patches, sold for $12.932 million due to its 1-of-1 rarity, a value supported by a 2023 study from the Journal of Cultural Economics showing unique sports memorabilia can command prices 10-15 times higher than mass-produced items.
- This sale on August 24, 2025, at Heritage Auctions surpassed the $12.6 million record set by a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card, reflecting a booming sports collectibles market fueled by investors like Kevin O'Leary, whose syndicate purchase aligns with a 2024 Deloitte report projecting a 12% annual growth in memorabilia value through 2030.
- The card's price challenges the traditional view of sports cards as mere nostalgia, suggesting a shift toward viewing them as alternative assets, a trend backed by a 2022 NBER study indicating collectibles now account for 3% of global alternative investment portfolios.
2008 Walkers with the Dawn and Morning by Mehretu
2023 SOLD for $ 10.7M by Sotheby's
In 2005 the Hurricane Katrina flooded for weeks most of the city of New Orleans, claiming many lives and displacing hundreds of thousands. The slowness of the reconstruction was frustrating the poor classes. Opened in November 2008 in the model of the Venice biennial, the Prospect 1 exhibition managed to restart the cultural life, showcasing new artistic practices of 81 international contemporary artists at 24 venues across the city.
The Ethiopian born Julie Mehretu managed to pay a tribute to the resilience of the African American community after the disaster. One of her five contributions is titled Walkers with the Dawn and Morning after an encouraging poem by Harlem poet Langston Hughes.
The painting is made of bright colors expressing the violence of the storm above an architectural grisaille with the sea. This ink and acrylic on canvas 243 x 360 cm was sold for $ 10.7M from a lower estimate of $ 7M by Sotheby's on November 16, 2023, lot 7.
On April 22, 2013 in Doha, Sotheby's sold at lot 15 for US $ 3.1M a painting made in 2008 in ink and synthetic polymers, 244 x 366 cm. It is titled Rising Down, a contradiction worthy of Miro that expresses the desire of the artist to fill the space and dominate her world. At that time Mehretu no longer needed patches of bright colors to express her message. The balance of the tangled lines provides to the work a great lightness.
The Ethiopian born Julie Mehretu managed to pay a tribute to the resilience of the African American community after the disaster. One of her five contributions is titled Walkers with the Dawn and Morning after an encouraging poem by Harlem poet Langston Hughes.
The painting is made of bright colors expressing the violence of the storm above an architectural grisaille with the sea. This ink and acrylic on canvas 243 x 360 cm was sold for $ 10.7M from a lower estimate of $ 7M by Sotheby's on November 16, 2023, lot 7.
On April 22, 2013 in Doha, Sotheby's sold at lot 15 for US $ 3.1M a painting made in 2008 in ink and synthetic polymers, 244 x 366 cm. It is titled Rising Down, a contradiction worthy of Miro that expresses the desire of the artist to fill the space and dominate her world. At that time Mehretu no longer needed patches of bright colors to express her message. The balance of the tangled lines provides to the work a great lightness.
2008 GHENIE
1
Nickelodeon
2016 SOLD for £ 7.1M by Christie's
Born in Romania, Adrian Ghenie was 12 at the fall of Ceausescu. Having become an artist he compares the new sanitized and shiny lifestyle with the dark and tragic dictatorship that he has known and of which we must not forget the inhumanity. He understands and expresses the fragility of modern life where political horror remains possible.
On October 6, 2016, Christie's for £ 7.1M from a lower estimate of £ 1M Nickelodeon, oil and acrylic on canvas painted in 2008, lot 5. This very large diptych 238 x 414 cm overall was the centerpiece of a 2009 exhibition significantly entitled Darkness for an hour.
A group of men are standing. Most of them look towards a screen. In a banal room, they watch a movie of the old days. We guess their intentions and commitments. With their old-fashioned hats and long coats, they personify the dark hours of the nomenklatura. They indeed destroyed their own lives by destroying the others.
These chilling stiff characters have no identity. The swollen faces are blurred as in these photos where the Stalinist bureaucrats altered the past by erasing the traitors to their cause. One of these men has a more precise gesture as if he lacerated his own face with his hands.
On October 6, 2016, Christie's for £ 7.1M from a lower estimate of £ 1M Nickelodeon, oil and acrylic on canvas painted in 2008, lot 5. This very large diptych 238 x 414 cm overall was the centerpiece of a 2009 exhibition significantly entitled Darkness for an hour.
A group of men are standing. Most of them look towards a screen. In a banal room, they watch a movie of the old days. We guess their intentions and commitments. With their old-fashioned hats and long coats, they personify the dark hours of the nomenklatura. They indeed destroyed their own lives by destroying the others.
These chilling stiff characters have no identity. The swollen faces are blurred as in these photos where the Stalinist bureaucrats altered the past by erasing the traitors to their cause. One of these men has a more precise gesture as if he lacerated his own face with his hands.
2
The Collector
2021 SOLD for HK$ 66M by Christie's
A foe of the absolutisms of the 20th century, Adrian Ghenie observes the relation between political madness and love of art.
In 2008-2009, he executes a series of four paintings titled The Collector, based on the bulimia for art of Hermann Göring, and questioning the meaning of art. The first opus recuperates a black and white photo used in 1946 during the Nuremberg trials.
In a closed room, a man with a mad gaze is crouching alone on the edge of a sofa. He is obsessed by his stifling mess of empty frames that invades all the available walls and floor around him. His beloved accumulated art is absent. Nobody can help him. Any trace of human feelings were canceled by his terrible obsession.
This life size oil on canvas 200 x 290 cm painted in 2008 was sold for HK $ 66M from a lower estimate of HK $ 45M by Christie's on May 24, 2021, lot 48.
In the second opus, Göring eagerly grasps an artwork in both hands. The opus 3 features the collector closely inspecting a painting on the wall.
In the fourth and last opus, the man is lying dead on his coffin, surrounded by his spectral art. His pose is based on a photograph taken shortly after Göring's suicide during the Nuremberg trials. Above him is hanging the image of the Prussian Archangel, a 1920 Dada assemblage depicting a German soldier with a pig’s head. This oil on canvas 200 x 240 cm painted in 2009 was sold for £ 2.65M by Christie's on March 6, 2019, lot 5.
Commenting his own art, Ghenie observed that Göring's sunken cheeks, turned purple after the extensive use of morphine and alcohol, do not show in photos.
In 2008-2009, he executes a series of four paintings titled The Collector, based on the bulimia for art of Hermann Göring, and questioning the meaning of art. The first opus recuperates a black and white photo used in 1946 during the Nuremberg trials.
In a closed room, a man with a mad gaze is crouching alone on the edge of a sofa. He is obsessed by his stifling mess of empty frames that invades all the available walls and floor around him. His beloved accumulated art is absent. Nobody can help him. Any trace of human feelings were canceled by his terrible obsession.
This life size oil on canvas 200 x 290 cm painted in 2008 was sold for HK $ 66M from a lower estimate of HK $ 45M by Christie's on May 24, 2021, lot 48.
In the second opus, Göring eagerly grasps an artwork in both hands. The opus 3 features the collector closely inspecting a painting on the wall.
In the fourth and last opus, the man is lying dead on his coffin, surrounded by his spectral art. His pose is based on a photograph taken shortly after Göring's suicide during the Nuremberg trials. Above him is hanging the image of the Prussian Archangel, a 1920 Dada assemblage depicting a German soldier with a pig’s head. This oil on canvas 200 x 240 cm painted in 2009 was sold for £ 2.65M by Christie's on March 6, 2019, lot 5.
Commenting his own art, Ghenie observed that Göring's sunken cheeks, turned purple after the extensive use of morphine and alcohol, do not show in photos.
2008 Woman Artist by Marshall
2019 SOLD for $ 7.3M by Sotheby's
US graphic arts are a prerogative for white men, aren't they ? Beauford Delaney exiled. The few women of color who dared an artistic career were ignored or persecuted, like Elizabeth Catlett who had lost her US citizenship for 40 years.
The wind turns in the literary circle of Dr. Maya Angelou. In 1990 Faith Ringgold and Clarissa Sligh display the art of 100 black women in an exhibition. Even today the desegregation is not over despite the undeniable success of Julie Mehretu and Kara Walker.
The theme of the woman painter could not leave indifferent Kerry James Marshall. This Chicago-based artist shows an America populated by Blacks in their gradual conquest of uninhibited social status in everyday life, education, spare time and emotions.
On March 1, 2019, Sotheby's sold for $ 7.3M from a lower estimate of $ 1.8M the imaginary portrait of a young black woman, acrylic on PVC 73 x 63 cm painted by Marshall in 2008, lot 209.
This woman is a painter recognizable as such by the attributes of her work, the colorful palette and the spotted smock. She is standing, her hand resting vigorously on her hip, her straight gaze proudly directed towards the observer. The patterns of lines on the back wall suggest that her art is abstract.
The wind turns in the literary circle of Dr. Maya Angelou. In 1990 Faith Ringgold and Clarissa Sligh display the art of 100 black women in an exhibition. Even today the desegregation is not over despite the undeniable success of Julie Mehretu and Kara Walker.
The theme of the woman painter could not leave indifferent Kerry James Marshall. This Chicago-based artist shows an America populated by Blacks in their gradual conquest of uninhibited social status in everyday life, education, spare time and emotions.
On March 1, 2019, Sotheby's sold for $ 7.3M from a lower estimate of $ 1.8M the imaginary portrait of a young black woman, acrylic on PVC 73 x 63 cm painted by Marshall in 2008, lot 209.
This woman is a painter recognizable as such by the attributes of her work, the colorful palette and the spotted smock. She is standing, her hand resting vigorously on her hip, her straight gaze proudly directed towards the observer. The patterns of lines on the back wall suggest that her art is abstract.
2008 Pomme de New York by Claude Lalanne
2026 SOLD for € 6M by Christie's
"Pomme de New York" (2008) by Claude Lalanne is a monumental bronze sculpture, edition 7/8, monogrammed 'C.L.', signed 'LALANNE', and dated 2008 on the side. It measures approximately 248 x 225 cm (nearly 2.5 meters tall and wide), making it one of the artist's largest apple works. It was acquired from JGM Galerie in Paris in 2008 by a private U.S. collection and has appeared in major exhibitions, including Les Lalanne on Park Avenue (Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, 2009), shows at Ben Brown Fine Arts/Paul Kasmin (2013), Les Lalanne Fifty Years of Work (2015), and Les Lalanne à Trianon at Château de Versailles (2021).
It is lot 12A in Christie's 20th/21st Century Art Evening Sale in Paris on April 15, 2026, sold for € 6M against an estimate of €5,000,000–7,000,000 (roughly $5.4M–7.6M USD at current rates).
Funny Intention in the Title "Pomme de New York"
The title is a witty pun playing on "la Grosse Pomme" (French for "the Big Apple," New York's nickname). "Pomme de New York" literally means "Apple of New York," directly nodding to the city's moniker while evoking a literal giant apple—fitting for this oversized, monumental bronze. It was created for or featured in the 2009 Les Lalanne on Park Avenue installation in New York, where a bronze apple appeared on 52nd Street alongside other works like sheep sculptures. The title cleverly ties the piece to its exhibition context and cultural reference, blending French wordplay with American symbolism in a lighthearted, surrealist spirit typical of the Lalannes.
Key Features of the Piece for Sale
It is lot 12A in Christie's 20th/21st Century Art Evening Sale in Paris on April 15, 2026, sold for € 6M against an estimate of €5,000,000–7,000,000 (roughly $5.4M–7.6M USD at current rates).
Funny Intention in the Title "Pomme de New York"
The title is a witty pun playing on "la Grosse Pomme" (French for "the Big Apple," New York's nickname). "Pomme de New York" literally means "Apple of New York," directly nodding to the city's moniker while evoking a literal giant apple—fitting for this oversized, monumental bronze. It was created for or featured in the 2009 Les Lalanne on Park Avenue installation in New York, where a bronze apple appeared on 52nd Street alongside other works like sheep sculptures. The title cleverly ties the piece to its exhibition context and cultural reference, blending French wordplay with American symbolism in a lighthearted, surrealist spirit typical of the Lalannes.
Key Features of the Piece for Sale
- Scale and Presence: At nearly 2.5 meters, it is Claude Lalanne's largest apple sculpture, functioning as both artwork and potential object (e.g., a bench or focal point for gathering). Its exaggerated size amplifies the everyday fruit into something spectacular and immersive.
- Material and Craft: Cast bronze (patina not detailed in all sources, but often with warm, organic tones in her apple works). The surface likely emphasizes natural form with Lalanne's characteristic attention to organic texture and sculptural precision.
- Edition and Markings: Numbered 7 from an edition of 8, signed and dated—ensuring rarity and collectibility.
- Contextual Versatility: Previously displayed in major urban and historic settings (Park Avenue, Versailles, now previewed at Le Bristol Paris), it embodies the Lalannes' ability to transform public spaces with poetic, nature-inspired forms. It perfectly captures her "organic poetry and free-spirited imagination," where the familiar apple becomes a precious, dreamlike object.
